A teacher at an elite Brisbane private school has been given a $1.3 million payout after claiming a playground incident left her with serious psychiatric injuries and complaining about a “culture of misogyny”.
Victoria Sparrow, 37, alleged in documents filed to the Supreme Court earlier this year that she was surrounded by a chanting mob of 300 male students and pelted with apples, carrots and strawberry milk while on playground duty at Marist College Ashgrove on October 27, 2023.
She never returned to work, and filed a compensation lawsuit against the school and governing body Marist Schools Australia (MSA), claiming she has PTSD, has flashbacks and nightmares about the alleged incident, and panics in crowds.
But on Monday Ms Sparrow confirmed she had accepted a compensation offer to settle her claim against MSA, which she said had “unlimited resources”, The Courier Mail reported.
“I have made that choice knowing that I need costly ongoing specialist treatment, both now and for many years ahead,” she said.
“I hope one day to return to some form of employment despite my permanent injuries preventing me from ever teaching again.”
Ms Sparrow’s legal team previously accused the prestigious $45,000/year school of allowing “a culture of misogyny to develop and exist”, claimed the school did not have appropriate safety measures in place for teachers on playground duty, and did not offer her adequate support.
She was backed up by another teacher, Madonna Spillane, who alleged in an affidavit that Head of College Michael Newman dismissed the incident at a staff meeting days afterwards by saying “boys will be boys”.
Mr Newman is on leave, but Acting Head of College Paul Blinkhoff said in an email to staff he was pleased Ms Sparrow had accepted the offer, and noted it made “no finding of wrongdoing against the College or MSA”.
“Throughout this process Marist College Ashgrove and Marist Schools Australia have engaged from a position of respect for Ms Sparrow and for what she said of her experience and the effect it had on her,” he said.
“We apologise to Ms Sparrow and her experience and its impact, and we earnestly hope that the resolution of this matter today provides her a foundation for healing and assists in her recovery.”
According to the court documents, the incident occurred after hundreds of “excited” students ran to an area of the campus near the school’s Centre of Learning Excellence after hearing there would be a fight between two Year 11 students.
When Ms Sparrow tried to bring the students under control, she was “completely encircled” while boys yelled “charge” and threw fruit, vegetables and a full carton flavoured milk at her, and blocked her escape, the court was told.
The court documents further stated that a male teacher who was also present was so intimidated that he stopped trying to intervene.
“I have seen mob mentality at Marist College Ashgrove when a fight occurs, but I have never seen this vibe before,” one male teacher said in a statement provided to the court.
The school and MSA’s lawyers previously described the allegations as “scandalous”, and denied the accusations of negligence, a culture of misogyny, poor behaviour among students, and inadequate discipline levels and emergency response procedures.
Earlier this month the federal education department launched an investigation into Marist College Ashgrove after a senator from far-left party The Greens raised concerns over Ms Sparrow’s allegations, and the school is conducting its own external review.
Header image: Left, Ms Sparrow (supplied). Right, Marist College Ashgrove (Ben Webb, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link).
