Teacher makes compensation claim following pupil poisoning
A TEACHER who claims she was poisoned by a pupil is making a £700,000 compensation claim against her former employers.
Shaaira Alexis is suing after she drank blackboard cleaning fluid placed in her water bottle by a schoolgirl, the High Court in London has been told.
Although Miss Alexis, 52, made a full recovery, she filed the compensation claim, saying she had suffered mental scars from the attack, and was once so scared of leaving her classroom that she urinated in a wastepaper bin.
Her poor attendance record at Brampton Manor School in Newham, east London, led to her losing her job in August 2006 and, having been unable to become a headteacher or department head, she set up a string of failed businesses.
Miss Alexis, described by her barrister William McCormick as an “excellent teacher” and a “valuable member of staff”, has launched a compensation claim for £700,000 in damages to cover lost earnings and pension entitlements against the London Borough of Newham.
Mr McCormick said other “extremely nasty” incidents at the 1,450-pupil school, in one of Britain’s poorest areas, had resulted in “ganging up on staff”. The local education authority denies negligence and disputes the value of her compensation claim.