The High Court of Andorra forces the British College to readmit a teacher dismissed due to discrimination of origin

The Superior estimated the appeal presented by the defense of the ex-professor of the British College and declared null and void the dismissal that the center communicated to him on June 30, 2023. The resolution revoked the criterion of the Batlliawhich had dismissed the claim, and concluded that the termination had violated the right of the worker not to be discriminated against because of nationality.

The ruling forced the company that owns the school to readmit the teacher with the same working conditions as before the dismissal. He also condemned the British College to pay them unpaid salary benefits from termination to effective reinstatement, with legal interest from the time each salary was due until payment. The amounts were to be fixed during the implementation phase.

The accumulated amounts could be around 90,000 euros gross

The decision has a significant economic impact for the centre. For the defense, the teacher received 2,500 gross euros per month and nearly three years had passed since the dismissal, so the accumulated amounts could be around 90,000 gross eurosbefore the final calculation and interest.

The case had started following the departure of the teacher, of Spanish nationality, who maintained that the real reason for the termination was linked to the fact that she was not native. In previous proceedings it had been stated that, after dissue a letter of recommendationa first draft attributed the decision to the center’s desire to have native teachers. The management of the school defended that that reference was the result of “a typographical error” and alleged shortcomings in the level of English.

The defense, on the other hand, maintained that the real motivation was discriminatory and that the teacher had worked for two years at the center with the management’s knowledge of her nationality. He also remarked that the initial letter praised his work and professionalismwhich, in his view, weakened the performance argument.

The resolution of Superior Court arrived after a long judicial process and a first judgment dismissing the Batllia The teacher’s lawyer positively evaluated the sentence and congratulated the court for having corrected, according to his criteria, a situation that the defense considered unfair for three years.

The readmission of the teacher now requires administrative procedures. The teacher had to leaveAndorra by not finding another job that would allow him to maintain residence in the country and since then he resides in Spain. The worker should go to Immigration to recover the residence and work permit that should allow her to rejoin the British College in the terms set by the judgment.