Sexual Harassment Case in Morocco - KJ vs British Council / Tony Reilly

I just recently noticed this case while googling for some information about the British Council.  I'm pleased to say the British Council were found guilty and the claimant's case was upheld. It seems the tribunal took place towards the end of 2024.  I've added some links here, so you can peruse the case yourself.

• https://redmans.co.uk/insights/sexually-harassed-british-council-worker-unfair-dismissal/
• https://www.stephens-scown.co.uk/stephens-scown-llp-news/former-british-council-worker-wins-sexual-harassment-claim-against-senior-official/
• https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66965ce10808eaf43b50d034/KJ_-v-_British_Council_-_3200569_2022_-_Amended_Judgment.pdf
• https://vlex.co.uk/vid/kj-v-british-council-1045462968
• https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/british-council-morocco-harassment-stalking-tony-reilly-obe-b1175415.html
• https://en.yabiladi.com/articles/details/152991/british-council-official-sexually-harassed.html

The reason it was of such interest to me is that I myself experienced bullying and harassment during my time at the British Council a decade ago. Importantly, I received a similar treatment to what KJ did. Basically, managers fail to take any of the actions they should and instead just close ranks. British Council managers will always support one another no matter what, as most of them are just thinking about their own skins.  In fact, it's a cardinal sin in the world of BC management to criticise another manager, and most are frightened to do so. So, the truth is that, despite realms of guidelines, the British Council are complete hypocrites when it comes to supporting their workers. And it seems even after a whole decade since I left nothing has changed.  

Incredibly, I noticed some of the same players were involved in this case as in mine, notably Andrew Spells. It seems he offered his support to Tony Reilly. And he was exactly the man who supported the managers in my dispute. I certainly wasn't surprised to see this, though, because Mr Spells is obviously completely insensitive to the views, feelings or rights of any claimant and simply supports managers, no matter what.  It's a very authoritarian structure.  Yet, amazingly, Andrew Spells became head of Wellbeing for the British Council after his spell as MENA leader.  Let me assure you, he is not in the least concerned about your wellbeing if you are a regular teacher.

Please do communicate with me if you know more about the case or would like to know what I experienced.

Case Study 1 - Ian Shears

Much of what I have written previously has been generalised in nature, so I thought it might be an idea to actually give some specific examples of managers within the British Council.  The one that springs to my mind most readily is that of Ian Shears.  I am pleased to say that the British Council has now dispensed of his services and I congratulate them for that. Nevertheless, he typifies an attitude that many managers still within the BC have.

Ian Shears was the Deputy Centre Manager of the Bahrain Teaching Centre from around 2011 to 2013, maybe a bit longer.  But, actually, he was de facto the full manager, since the Country Director at that time basically handed the reins over to him, so he could focus on "more important" work.  While on that point, can anyone think of any worthwhile project the BC have done in the field of cultural relations? I challenge you to think of even one example.

The main feature of Ian Shears' tenure was his complete lack of interest in and indifference towards the teachers in the centre (his flock, so to speak). If he could have, I'm sure he would have glassed himself off completely.  I remember he made absolutely no effort to get to know me or find out anything about me and incredibly during the whole time I was there never even once spoke to me on a one-to-one basis. Until the day I actually handed in my notice, that is. Even then he didn't even ask me why I wanted to leave.

 

Ian Shears had for several years held positions of responsibility within the BC, including being a regional manager when based in Dubai.  As such, I felt he had become completely corrupted by that power, feeling largely untouchable and pretty well able to do whatever he wanted, without any fear of retribution or reprimand from above.  Basically, he rode rough-shod over all the main British Council values, such as valuing others or treating others equally.  He would simply apply his own agenda and values.  In other words, he represented himself rather than the British Council.  He practiced blatant favouritism and was loyal primarily to his management team, creating a strong "us and them" environment in relation to the teaching staff.  Importantly, he was the kind of guy who would happily throw someone under the bus to cover for any failure in his own duties. Let it be said, though, that this attitude is not uncommon amongst senior BC managers, almost all of whom have a "how do I get this off my table?" approach rather than a "how do I help?" one.

Occasionally, Ian would try to curry favour with the younger teachers in their 30s so that he seemed hip and with-it. He was very selective in this regard and demonstrated clear bias.  For example, he went to one of the younger teacher's farewell party (to look good), but of course didn't bother with similar events for older teachers like me.  Funnily, he even once claimed that he was "refreshingly approachable", which was actually something a teacher had said out of diplomacy at an early meeting.  Of course, he was following on from the android-like Krys Joyce, who had had an almost identical attitude and had successfully alienated almost all the teaching staff. So, maybe relatively he was more approachable to some.

The point about this is that it is extremely disheartening and disillusioning for a regular teacher to have a manager like that. You feel you are working in a vacuum with no one taking the slightest interest in your positive contribution or valuing you in any way. The only time you get noticed by this kind of manager is when you do something wrong or there is a complaint. And then all the cards will be stacked against you.

I mentioned in a previous post how he handled aspects of my situation. For example, I felt I was being victimised by my line manager Sam Stevenson, who had clearly taken a personal dislike to me and was set on "teaching me a lesson" for not kow-towing to him enough (another full story).  The point is that when I tried to bring up the subject of what I perceived as bullying, Ian Shears wouldn't hear anything of it, and again didn't even call me in for a one-to-one chat. In fact, he even copied Sam Stevenson in on the email, out of "courtesy" to the latter. Well, what about my right to confidentiality or some courtesy towards me? In fact, I realised later that he was probably complicit in what was Sam Stevenson was doing, and was almost certainly "managing me out of the organisation".  The evidence was ultimately a career-damning end of year report by Sam Stevenson which Ian Shears happily approved.

So when you've had this kind of treatment from a manager who makes absolutely no effort to establish any kind of positive rapport, and even does everything he can to diminish your worth, of course you're going to be disillusioned.  BC managers simply do not live up to the ideals of the organisation they work for. And, unfortunately, this type of manager abounds within the BC, which is why I recommend all teachers be ready and pre-hardened for this kind of experience. Never give your heart to the BC, but always maintain a mercenary attitude.  That will certainly be theirs towards you.

Bullying in the British Council

Hi Bloggers,

I used to be involved with BC for some of their examinations.  As part of it, I remember once doing an online Child Protection Awareness course, which was very commendable.  As it happened, it wasn't particularly relevant to me personally, as I no longer taught children, nor were there any Kids classes where I was working. 

However, what interested me about the course was that there were several threads that almost exactly corresponded with bullying in the workplace, which was something I myself experienced during my time with the British Council.  It's a pity the British Council don't do a similar course for that.  I suppose it's not as high profile and is also purely internal.  Nevertheless, they do need to have some kind of program in place.

At present, they try to deal with it informally first, and then you have the option to make a grievance if all this fails.  What they don't have is an independent person or body to look at the situation.  What this means is that one has to complain first to one's immediate supervisors.  But what if they are they very ones you feel you are being bullied by?

Generally, managers within the BC close ranks if one of their own is criticized.  They're extremely hypocritical in this respect.  Trying to get anyone to take you seriously is almost impossible. Basically, they will fob you off with banal generalisations, like it's good to listen to feedback and criticism, or I don't know enough about the background or simply pass the buck to someone else.  In fact, this is exactly what the regional head, Andrew Spells, did to me.  No one will take up your cause.  They will do everything they can to block you.  Your only hope may be the Teachers' Rep, but, in reality, he has almost no power, as he is basically just another teacher.

Another thing is that bullying is often vague and ill-defined, and usually difficult to prove.  Often it's just a sustained attitude of treating someone as being of no value.  It can often be an accumulation of small incidents. It's also difficult to report because you may feel fazed by the bully and fear further reprisal.   I remember I tried to bring it up with the deputy centre manager where I was working (Ian Shears) because I felt I was getting unfair treatment from my line manager, but incredibly he just ignored me, not even calling me in for a chat.  Instead, in the end he wrote me this amazing email, in which he had come to the conclusion that no bullying was taking place, since he had observed my interaction with the alleged bully, my line manager.  But obviously a bully is going to behave correctly when he knows he's being observed.  What happens behind closed doors may be completely different.  Another thing the manager did was to copy the bully in on my original email, which he did out of "courtesy" to the latter, with absolutely no regard for my right to confidentiality.  There was certainly no courtesy towards me.  Needless to say, my relationship with the bully worsened significantly, the final result being a career damning end of year report.

So my suggestion is that they have an unbiased independent officer or body, similar to that prescribed for Child Protection, to look at any grievance of this nature.  This is important because it will remove the possibility of managers closing ranks and put them under some pressure to live up to British Council standards.  They need to be accountable just like anyone else.

Valuing people

Hi Bloggers,

During my time at the British Council, "valuing people" was one of the main features of the British Council's overall vision and ethos.  We often had in house developmental sessions on this and other related virtues, such as creativity or mutuality.  I remember once even having a whole day devoted to it.  But the reality within the BC is that absolutely none of the managers actually care about it.  They only pay lip service to it.   It is only the teachers themselves who might practice it.  And I must say that the BC does have some excellent teachers.

It's a pity the same can't be said about the managers.  In my experience, most of them were completely indifferent.  If ever you had a problem or issue, it always felt like their attitude was "how can I get rid of you?" rather than "how can I help you?"  Their favourite line was "see your line manager", which effectively mounted to "don't bother me".  The real tell tale sign, though, was the complete lack of any follow-up.  There was never a "how are things now?" or "did you get that sorted?" etc.  Just the inevitable silence.  Once you'd been got rid of, that was it.  I always used to joke that if we could develop life-like androids, this is probably what they'd be like.

During almost all my time with the BC and particularly during my saga with the management in Bahrain in 2012 (see background), I remember I was at no stage treated like someone of value or worth. In fact, rather the opposite.  My line manager at the time, with the highly appropriate initials SS, seemed just hell bent on doing me down.  It was like he was out to "get" me.  I sometimes felt like I was in the police interrogation room having a confession beaten out of me.  He'd never accept my answers, usually implying that I was a liar.  And there were very few sessions with him in which I did not receive some sort of reprimand.  It was as if he felt it was a point of honour to do so.  God knows what kind of management training he had had.  Old school to say the least.  More suited to the military than a "caring" organisation.

So what I would suggest to the management is that they try genuinely to practice what they preach.  What they need to do is try to imagine how they would run a place if they actually owned as a private enterprise.  Their indifference to individual's circumstances and development would quickly become apparent.  As surely one of the golden rules of successful management is that a workforce that feels it is being recognised will perform better than one that doesn't.  Unfortunately, the penny doesn't yet seem to have dropped within the British Council.

As mentioned in one of my other posts. Managers need to know their teachers properly.  They need full dossiers on their achievements, strengths, what makes them tick.  Most importantly, though, they need to take an active interest, and towards this end I would suggest a bi-annual one to one meeting with teachers.  This is what would make teachers feel they are being noticed and recognised, and ultimately valued.  Teachers need to feel connected with the senior management, which is unfortunately something sadly missing now. 

Let's hope they see the light