UAE: School teacher fired over social media misconduct

A private school teacher who filed a compensation claim against a school for terminating his work contract following complaints from students and parents about his inappropriate behaviors on social media, has had his lawsuit rejected by court.

The teacher had denied allegations of him being immoral on social media claiming that his account had been hacked into.

Official court documents stated that the teacher, who worked at the private school in Abu Dhabi, filed a lawsuit against the school and two of its administrators demanding that they pay him Dh501,000 in compensation for the material and moral damages he suffered as a result of demeaning him and tarnishing his reputation.

He explained in his lawsuit that he had been working for the school as a teacher for more than four years. The second and third defendants sent him a letter terminating his employment contract without genuine reasons, he said.

The plaintiff pointed out that the school, represented by the second and third defendants, had tarnished his reputation by suspending him from work and asking him to hand over the school computer.

News about the termination of his services were also published at the school noticeboard, said the teacher adding that he was described by the defendants as being ‘morally unjust to the truth’, which tarnished his reputation at the school and degraded him.

The teacher also said the school administrators used bad words against him as they sacked him, which would affect his profession and work as a teacher in the future.

The man said the school also refused to issue him with a recommendation letter to help him find a new job.

The teacher had earlier filed a labour lawsuit against the school for arbitrary dismissal, and the Abu Dhabi labour court of first instance instructed the school management to pay him Dh58,000 and an economy class air ticket upon leaving the country.

He then filed a civil lawsuit at the Abu Dhabi Family and Civil Administrative Claims Court demanding for compensation which dismissed his case for lack of evidence to prove that the investigations for misconduct on social media, which were carried out by the school following complaints from students and parents were wrong.

The teacher challenged the ruling to the appeals court which has upheld the first ruling by the lower court based on earlier evidence presented by the school.