News

By Gudrun Schultz

GLASGOW, Scotland, March 9, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – It is no longer acceptable for denominational schools to reserve head positions for Catholics, according to a ruling by a Scottish employment tribunal yesterday.

David McNab, who has been a maths teacher at St. Paul’s Roman Catholic High School in Pollok, Glasgow, since 1991, was told he could not apply for the position of acting principal teacher of pastoral care because he is not a Catholic, reported the Scotsman today. Mr. McNab is an atheist.

He complained to the employment tribunal, which found he had been “unlawfully discriminated against … on the grounds of his religion,” based on the European Convention on Human Rights. Mr. McNab was awarded £2,000 in damages.

Although the tribunal found that the school’s system of “reserved posts,” common in area schools, was not legal, it also found that the Catholic Church was allowed to continue the practice of making the final decision in all teaching appointments in denominational schools.

Atheist teachers must be allowed to apply for head positions, but they can be screened out in the final decision-making process.

ÂGlasgow City Council is considering the possibility of an appeal.