The High Court has ruled that a decision by Wilson's Hospital School to suspend teacher Enoch Burke from his position in August 2022 was correct.
The school had asked the High Court to find to find that it was correct to place Mr Burke on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of a disciplinary process against him.
Mr Burke had argued the disciplinary process, his suspension and the subsequent decision to dismiss him were unlawful.
Mr Justice Alexander Owens ruled that in light of what the board knew about Mr Burke's actions toward the end of the previous academic year and his behaviour at the Board of Management meeting, apprehension that he would engage in harmful or disruptive conduct if permitted to teach was "rational and reasonable".
The judge said the board was entitled to take into account that Enoch Burke did not address the issue of how he would behave in the school.
He said there was no evidence that any relevant mater was not duly considered or that any irrelevant matter was taken into account by the board in arriving at its decision. He said the board was somewhat restricted because of legal advice that members could not discuss the substance of the allegations.
"However the decision makers knew enough about the allegations and the relevant issues to make a valid decision on whether or not to suspend Mr Burke," he added.
Judge Owens also ruled that Enoch Burke had no right to enter the school once suspended and that his attendance thereafter was trespass.
He said the school was entitled to a permanent injunction prohibiting him from entering the premises.
He also awarded the school €15,000 in damages for trespass, in addition to the daily fines imposed for breach of court orders.
The judge said the continuing trespass and deliberate disruption caused by entering the school during school hours were significant aggravating features which made it proper to award more than nominal damages.
Costs
The judge also said his provisional view was that costs of the action should be awarded against Mr Burke. A date may be fixed for a costs hearing.
Mr Burke was suspended from the Co Westmeath secondary school last year, and was the subject of a High Court injunction, which was put in place pending the outcome of the full hearing of the dispute, over his failure to comply with the terms of his suspension which required him to stay away from the school while he was on administrative leave.
His continued refusal to comply with those orders resulted in him being found in contempt of court and his incarceration for 108 days.
Following his release from prison he has continued to breach the injunction and was being subjected to a daily fine of €700.
He was also dismissed by the school following a disciplinary hearing. That decision is currently under appeal.
Mr Burke who denied any wrongdoing, says that his suspension arises out of his opposition to transgenderism and a direction by the school to refer to a student who wishes to transition by a different pronoun.
In a counterclaim he said that the disciplinary process against him should be set aside and that it breaches his constitutional rights including his right to freedom of expression of his religious beliefs.
