A senior teacher in Co Tyrone has taken a sex discrimination case after he lost out on a school principal's position to a woman he believes has less experience for the job.
Mr Philip Mawhinney, 57, the former vice-principal of Omagh High School, claims Ms Cynthia Hamilton had been given preferential treatment because she had worked with a member of the appointments panel.
He told an employment tribunal that Mrs Hamilton, the vice-principal of another school, had less classroom experience as she had worked on secondment for the Western Education and Library Board (WELB) as an advisory teacher.
He also claimed that during that time she had worked under the management of board official Mrs Rosemary Watterson, a member of the Teaching AppointmentsCommittee (TAC) involved in deciding the post.
Mr Mawhinney said he had been taken aback to see Mrs Watterson on the committee when he entered the room for interview.
"If I had my previous principal on the panel, I would have thought psychologically it was giving me an advantage. Likewise, I felt that Mrs Hamilton having a previous boss on the panel was giving her an advantage."
But Ms Anne Finnigan, the lawyer representing the board, said Mrs Watterson had not taken an active role in the decision of best candidate and had only been present because she was being groomed to take up a position within the committee.
"The evidence of the TAC is that Mrs Watterson didn't take part in any of the discussions and her notes were not disclosed to other members," she said.
The tribunal was told that soon after Mrs Hamilton's appointment, angry teaching staff held a meeting to discuss whether she had met the criteria for the post.
Mr Andrew Gordon, a teacher at Omagh High School for 30 years, who had attended this meeting, said he did not believe that time worked as an advisory teacher counted as teaching experience.
He said there had been a heated discussion on WELB policy on this issue.
"We wanted to talk to the board of governors because there was a feeling within the staff room that Mrs Hamilton did not satisfy the criteria.
"I suppose we felt that our man was losing out because of an oversight or a mistake," he added.
The case was adjourned until tomorrow.
PA