Teacher loses battle over chair

A Bristol teacher who resigned after her school failed to replace a squeaky chair which made "farting" noises has lost an employment tribunal.

Sue Storer claimed she was the victim of sexist and bullying behaviour.

The 48-year-old left her £48,000 position as deputy head of Bedminster Down Secondary School last September.

She had claimed constructive dismissal and sex discrimination but the tribunal ruled she was neither unfairly dismissed nor discriminated against.

'Great distress'

Ms Storer, from Pensford, near Bristol, had tried to sue her former employers, Bristol City Council, at an employment tribunal in the city.

The tribunal was told that in one instance the school failed to replace her chair which made an embarrassing "farting" noise whenever anyone sat on it.

Ms Storer said the chair was the cause of great distress especially on parents' evenings when she would have to repeatedly apologise to parents about the noise.

She said this pressure eventually caused her to have a nervous breakdown.

A spokeswoman for the council said: "Bristol City Council welcomes the decision of the tribunal."

Ms Storer said: "I've been a hardworking teacher for 26 years but now I feel as though I never want to go back to that school and I certainly never want to teach again."