Ruffley v The Board of Management of Saint Anne's School [2017]

This Supreme Court case concerned a series of seemingly unremarkable events which cumulatively led to the plaintiff leaving work and failing to return due to alleged bullying and harassment. The core incident, concerning the locking of a classroom door with a pupil and teacher inside, was not in dispute. However, the subsequent events and procedures applied were.

The Court found that once the plaintiff had established that locking the classroom door from the inside was common practice then a question regarding the sanction to be imposed, if any, should have been raised. Similarly, they found that the plaintiff should have been afforded an opportunity to represent herself in front of the