Retired teacher wins €88,000 damages over harassment

A RETIRED SCHOOLTEACHER has won €88,000 in damages from her former school, after the High Court found that she had been harassed and bullied by its principal.

Resource teacher Bridget Sweeney, 55, with an address at Beaver Row in Donnybrook, said her former principal Dr Austin Corcoran had harassed her after she appealed a decision to overlook her for a promotion within Ballinteer Community School.

RTÉ News reports how the court heard Corcoran had hired a private detective to follow her – a measure Sweeney told the court was “truly terrifying”.

Sweeney had suffered nightmares and flashbacks, and ultimately had to retire from teaching on stress grounds in 2008.

The decision to hire the private detective, the court found, was “wholly inappropriate”.

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