A Dunfermline primary school teacher unfairly sacked by Fife Council has broken his silence – and says the local authority never had any intention of giving him his job back.
David Love lost his job at Duloch Primary School in June 2023.
He had initially been suspended from work after he was arrested and charged with assaulting a teenager – not related to his job – in October 2022.
However, the case was later dropped by prosecutors.
After taking Fife Council to a tribunal for unfair dismissal, employment judge Amanda Jones found in his favour and awarded Mr Love compensation.
The judge ruled that the allegations levelled at Mr Love had been signed off by Shelagh McLean, head of education, without fact-checking because she had “already formed a view of the claimant’s guilt”.
Dunfermline teacher paid £17.6k after sacking by Fife Council
It was initially reported he had received £11,000 but this was later corrected to £17,625.
Fife Council was also ordered to reinstate Mr Love to his job.
However, The Courier can now reveal that the local authority was ordered to appear back in front of Ms Jones in October after failing to give Mr Love his job back.
Fife Council argued it was “not practicable” to reinstate him due to the breakdown of trust between him and education bosses, along with a temporary restriction imposed by the General Teaching Council Scotland (GTCS).
The two parties have since reached a confidential settlement, understood to be worth five figures, and Mr Love no longer works for the local authority.
However, he described the tribunal outcome as an “empty victory” and says the case highlights significant issues within the education department at Fife Council.
Mr Love told The Courier: “I may have won my case, however, the more important thing is to highlight what’s been going on behind the scenes at Fife Council.
“It’s clear to me that they were never going to reinstate or redeploy me, no matter what the judge said.”
The GTCS placed a temporary restriction order on Mr Love in August 2023.
‘If I’ve lost my job, why haven’t they lost theirs?’
The watchdog later dropped its investigation after ruling there was insufficient evidence to prove the allegations levelled at him.
Mr Love says no one in Fife Council was willing to take ownership of mistakes, despite the employment judge ruling the investigation into his conduct was “procedurally and substantively unfair”.
Mr Love added: “It’s extremely rare that an employee takes his employer to a tribunal and wins while representing themself.
“When that happened, you would have thought the council would look inward rather than double down.
“At some point, someone has to sit up and think that something isn’t right here.
“If I’ve lost my job, why haven’t they lost theirs?”
Mr Love has since sought alternative employment away from teaching.
It is thought the case could cost Fife Council six figures in total.
Asked to comment on the outcome of the case and Mr Love’s claims, Donald MacLeod – executive director of education – said: “As a responsible employer, we don’t discuss the individual circumstances of any current or former employees.”
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