Sky News exposes the scale of staff-on-staff bullying at UK schools from more than 320 current and former teachers. Some have suffered a devastating emotional toll and were paid thousands to "keep quiet".

When Maya* started a new teaching job, she did not expect to be called the n-word as she walked down the corridor.

The bullying from her fellow teachers proved relentless. She was called a “curry lover” and believes she was hidden from meeting parents at one point due to her skin colour.

It was not just racism she faced there but also sexism. Male colleagues told her she would have to “bend over a desk to get a promotion” and had “blowjob lips”. Incidents like these happened “almost every day”, she says.

Eventually forced to leave her job, Maya signed a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) making her unable to speak about the abuse she suffered. As part of the conditions of her exit, she also received a significant payout, which she describes as “money to keep quiet”.

  • ChicoSuave@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    1 hour ago

    Without opening the article this feels super British. Like, talk about an inability to make proper insults, English bigots are some of the most unimaginative and idiotic people on the planet.

  • rockSlayer@lemmy.worldEnglish
    78·
    8 hours ago

    I wish more people would know that NDAs can never cover illegal actions, such as workplace harassment and discrimination. You have a right to speak out. Please use your voice, the boat was already rocked when they discriminated against you.

  • Naich@lemmings.worldEnglish
    94·
    8 hours ago

    100% curry lover here. Every type of curry is delicious, and any person who uses it as an insult is obviously unbelievably dull and parochial.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
    43·
    8 hours ago

    I don’t understand ‘curry lover’ as an insult, but I really don’t understand it in the UK where curry is super popular.

    I bet the teachers who call her ‘curry lover’ also ‘go out for a curry’ all the time.

  • Lord Wiggle@lemmy.worldEnglish
    21·
    9 hours ago

    Bullying often comes out of jealousy or insecurity. Seeing the British cuisine, I understand people being jealous of healthy and flavor rich dishes.

    Doesn’t change the fact that bullying, discrimination and racism is disgusting and only shows how low and weak people can be.

  • Buffalox@lemmy.worldEnglish
    22·
    7 hours ago

    Maya signed a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) making her unable to speak about the abuse she suffered.

    I’m pretty sure such an NDA would be invalid here (EU), an NDA cannot legally prevent you from disclosing experiences of abuse regarding your own person.
    But in USA UK the rules are made mostly for the rich, and in this case, the school is richer than the teacher.

      • Buffalox@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        5 hours ago

        Yes I warned strongly against Brexit, explaining how it would be bad, and have no real benefits for UK.
        I especially focused on bureaucracy being doubled, but just moved from EU to UK. Something that maybe wasn’t intuitive to realize, but has come obviously true. But I also warned about freedoms being removed, because UK were already walking the line within EU. And of course the obvious issues with economy. Everything I and others warned against has come true. Including the lack of benefits.
        I think Brexit (edit:) campaign has also been a significant factor in making UK way more xenophobic.
        It’s difficult to say exactly because of Covid, but I think the economy is actually hit a bit harder than I expected.

        • Barbarian@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          8·
          6 hours ago

          I think Brexit has also been a significant factor in making UK way more xenophobic.

          Personally, I don’t think it’s made the UK more xenophobic. A decent percentage of people supported Brexit due to xenophobia, and the success of the referendum made them more outspoken. Basically, Brexit is a symptom of xenophobia rather than the other way around.

          • Buffalox@lemmy.worldEnglish
            3·
            5 hours ago

            Not Brexit by itself, the Brexit campaign and debate. I think it amplified the already existing xenophobia.

          • palordrolap@fedia.io
            1·
            5 hours ago

            Yep. If it wasn’t for the racist vote, Brexit would not have happened. That particular wedge of the pie was just enough to get it over the 50% mark.

            Sure, you could argue for other wedges also being responsible if you order them differently, but, you know, racism is a pretty nasty one and given the context, it seems like the right one to point to as a culprit.

      • Buffalox@lemmy.worldEnglish
        7·
        8 hours ago

        Ah yes, it’s even at the very top of the article. 🫣
        AFAIK UK has unfortunately removed citizen protections since leaving EU.
        So I have no idea what their rules are, only that they are worse than they used to be.

    • Fisch@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      3·
      8 hours ago

      The rules in the EU are also made for the rich. The difference is just that the EU has at least some left votes in there, so it’s not as bad.

    • Buffalox@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      8 hours ago

      AFAIK UK used to be pretty open and tolerant towards commonwealth emigrants back in the 70’s?
      IDK why it’s become so bad in the UK, but it seems they’ve gotten worse together with USA the past few decades.
      This is an unfortunate trend that sweeps most of the world. USA, Europe, Russia, China and India. But UK and USA seem worse than most.

      • Ginny [they/she]English
        7·
        7 hours ago

        The UK was not open and tolerant in the 70s, which is why there was one race riot after another on the 80s.

        The UK has definitely gotten worse in the last few years or so, possibly a decade, but before that was a golden period just after terrorism-related Islamophobia had died down and before refugee-related Islamophobia kicked in where the UK was probably the best it ever was on terms of racial attitudes.

        • ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          3 hours ago

          Yeah, speaking as someone who grew up in the UK and had South Asian friends, the 80s (and 90s) were bad for racial intolerance and discrimination against minorities. I saw it a lot, along with the same shit directed towards black people. It was definitely a tangible part of the post-colonial culture. It’s still a problem, but it’s nowhere near as bad as it used to be.