Support staff worker wins £36,000 payout at employment tribunal – four years after being offered £10k in non-disclosure settlement by school

“Finally I felt heard, seen, and understood,” Charlotte Bentley tells Education Uncovered after the tribunal’s verdict. Case came after she had had requests to work from home during the Covid pandemic rejected by Oaks Park high in Redbridge, North London.

A member of support staff at a comprehensive in North London is celebrating after winning what is understood to be a £36,000 payout following an employment tribunal verdict – four years after the school had offered her £10,000 to sign a non-disclosure agreement and drop the case.

Charlotte Bentley, who is profoundly deaf, won the award of £26,000 plus £10,049.19 in interest payments, after the employment tribunal ruled she had been subjected to disability discrimination and victimisation by the school where she works, Oaks Park High School in Redbridge.

The offer of £10,000, which had been made to Ms Bentley by the school back in July 2021, would also have seen her leave her job at Oaks Park, which is a local authority maintained school, whereas instead she chose to stay and fight on at the employment tribunal. She remains employed by Oaks Park to this day.

The school told Education Uncovered that it recognised the tribunal’s verdict and that it “continues to be committed to diversity and inclusion”. It is understood that Joanne Hamill, Oaks Park’s headteacher, has now apologised to Ms Bentley, as required by the tribunal.