Mother loses school race claim

Monday March 20, 2006

A Muslim mother who accused a fee-paying Christian school of racial abuse today lost her claim for damages.
Pakistan-born Aliya Smethurst, 37, alleged her son Mikhail, suffered racial abuse as a six-year-old pupil at St Christopher's school in Burnham on Sea, Somerset.
She also claimed she suffered ill-treatment on the grounds of her race while she worked at the school as a boarding house matron.
Mrs Smethurst was seeking damages from the school and its headteacher, Diane Symes, for racial discrimination, negligence regarding bullying, personal injury and assault on Mikhail, now 11.
She claimed her son was called "mud face" because of his colour and was regularly kicked, punched and spat at by fellow pupils, leaving him bruised and lacking in confidence.
In a judgment handed down today, Judge Charles Wade ruled against Mrs Smethurst in her claims against the school and Mrs Symes.
Mrs Smethurst was not at today's hearing in Swindon county court.

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Public school settles racial abuse claim(Filed: 13/12/2001)

AN "in-house parent" at a public school who claimed that a member of staff told her "niggers are not welcome in Somerset pubs" settled a claim yesterday for unfair dismissal and racial discrimination.
Aliya Smethurst, 33, a Pakistani, claimed she was subjected to racist abuse during the 12 months she worked at Sidcot, a Quaker school at Burnham-on-Sea, providing pastoral care for pupils. The school denied the claims.
Mrs Smethurst, a mother of three, told an employment tribunal in Bristol that her concerns about racist bullying among pupils were ignored. She was made redundant in September after the closure of the boarding house where she worked.
The hearing was later told a settlement had been reached. Details were not disclosed.
Earlier, Mrs Smethurst wept as she told the tribunal: "My family had never experienced race as an issue until I started working at the school.
"I was telling a cleaner I was going for a drink with my husband and she said very vehemently, 'niggers are not welcome in Somerset pubs'. The termination of my employment had everything to do with racism."
Jefferson Horsley, chairman of the school's management committee, denied racism. He told the tribunal: "Sidcot prides itself on its internationalism and its good working relationships with its staff."