Headmistress wins damages for having been called racist and Islamophobe

A British court has awarded the former headmistress of a primary school 400,000 pounds in compensatory damages after she was falsely accused of racism and hounded out of her job by Muslims who had gained seats on the school’s board and sought to Islamize the school, an effort the headmistress had resisted. From whom did she win the damages? In the usual disorganized manner of today’s journalism, that key fact does not appear until the 13th paragraph of the Mail’s article:

A judge at the Royal Courts of Justice in London yesterday ordered Surrey County Council to pay Mrs Connor 407,781 pounds in compensation.

He ruled that the local education authority had failed to support her properly against the unfounded accusations [of racism and Islamophobia].

Deputy Judge John Leighton Williams said the council disregarded the ‘health and welfare’ of Mrs Connor because it was more concerned about being reported to the Commission for Racial Equality.

Pretty interesting. If you try to avoid being charged of racism by allowing someone else to be wrongfully charged, that is a wrong for which you can be held accountable. Even in Britain, political correctness is not an all-purpose defense.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at March 21, 2009 02:09 PM | Send