The Appeals Court presided over by Mr Justice Philip Sciberras upheld an Industrial Tribunal award of Lm2,500 last week to a teacher who had lost her job at St Edward’s College when the college’s Sixth Form was closed down.

The college employed Sandra Theuma in 1995. She lost her job in January 2006 but she objected that the principle of “last in first out” had not been followed. Following meetings with the college, she was offered a full-time job till July 2006, after which date she would be declared redundant.

The college argued that in February 2005 the Board of Governors decided to close down the Sixth Form by June 2006. Ms Theuma was informed that due to the current reduction in the number of lessons on her timetable she was being made redundant.

Ms Theuma argued that in January 2006 the college employed a Maths teacher and she felt she should have been offered this job, given she was qualified in this subject. The college argued Ms Theuma has only an A level in Maths and that her real subject is Accounts. The college did not apply to the Department of Education to inquire whether she could teach Maths.

Less than a year after her termination of employment, the college advertised for a part-time teacher of Economics and Business Studies, which subject used to be taught by Ms Theuma.

The tribunal concluded that the college did not give Ms Theuma the opportunity to sit for an interview to assess if she could teach the subject and for these reasons awarded Ms Theuma Lm2,500 but also ordered she could not be given back her job.

The college appealed. The Appeals Court considered that the decrease in the number of students led the governors to close down the Sixth Form; this was a private sector decision into which the tribunal could not inquire. But the tribunal was right in ensuring that the reasons given for Ms Theuma’s termination of employment was the real reason and that it was up to the college to prove that other teaching posts were not filled by taking on new teachers except by teachers affected by the governors’ decision.