Teacher cancelled, censured after intimidation, gossiping, swearing at students
A secondary school teacher has been struck off in New Zealand after the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal found an "extensive range of conduct" towards students that amounted to serious misconduct and justified cancellation of registration.
The Tribunal said the teacher's behaviour while employed at a New Zealand school between August 2019 and September 2020 "must clearly meet the test for serious misconduct."
The teacher had taught at the school since 2010 and her employment was terminated in November 2020; she is not currently working as a teacher and her practising certificate has since expired.
According to the agreed facts attached to the decision, the teacher intimidated and threatened students, at one point moving into a student's personal space and screaming "get out," and on another occasion warning she would "get even worse" with a student.
She also told students others had complained about her and boasted that she had "never got in trouble."
The Tribunal further heard that the teacher frequently gossiped with and about students, probing their relationships, and commenting on their bodies and clothing. She also discussed students' sexual activity and described some students as "dirty little ferals."
The Tribunal heard she regularly swore in class, including telling students to "fuck off" and calling one student a "fucking retard." The teacher also breached professional boundaries by talking in detail about her own dating and sex life, including Tinder use, and by sharing photos and messages with senior students.
She contacted and socialised with some students outside school by text, video call, coffee meetings and at a pub, and took and shared selfies with students, sometimes despite them objecting.
"The conduct is extensive. It involves dozens of incidents of inappropriate behaviour," the Tribunal said. "Even one or some of these incidents could likely amount to serious misconduct. When taken together the conduct easily meets the tests for serious misconduct."
In its legal analysis, the Tribunal found the conduct was likely to adversely affect students, undermined the teacher's fitness to teach and brought significant disrepute to the profession.
It held that the behaviour also satisfied the Teaching Council's serious‑misconduct reporting criteria for emotional abuse, breaches of professional boundaries, and disrepute.
Teacher's mental health
A psychiatrist's report submitted to the Tribunal stated that the teacher had previously developed post‑traumatic stress disorder, secondary to sexual harassment, which in turn progressed into a major depressive disorder.
The psychiatrist assessed her over several sessions in 2024 and concluded that these conditions were present during the 2019–2020 period when the misconduct occurred.
Despite accepting the evidence of the teacher's mental health struggles, the Tribunal ordered cancellation of her registration and imposed a formal censure, noting that it ultimately had little information to work with if it were to consider a more positive outcome than cancellation.
"And in any event, [the teacher] has not asked us to do so, instead accepting cancellation is appropriate."
On name suppression, the Tribunal acknowledged the strong presumption of open justice but accepted there was "a real risk" to the teacher's wellbeing if she were identified, citing evidence of ongoing mental‑health difficulties and self‑harm risk.
"The extent of the conduct itself, coming so randomly and intensely, is a strong indication that all is not well," the Tribunal ruled. "We consider that welfare, treatment and rehabilitation outweigh the presumption of open justice."
The Tribunal ordered the teacher to pay a reduced contribution to costs: $4,500 towards the Complaints Assessment Committee's expenses and $375 of the Teaching Council's costs.
