DRAMA teacher Sue Slator this week urged part-time staff to stand up for their rights after she won pound;66,000 from a prestigious private school that tried to cut her working hours.

The 57-year-old who “adored” her part-time job at Clifton College, Bristol, quit the school in August 2000 and sued for constructive unfair dismissal.

Mrs Slator of Stoke Bishop, Bristol, said: “Part-timers have the same rights as a full-time member of staff. Do not put up with your hours being cut, particularly if you are part-time.

“My case has proved that you cannot just change a part-time teacher’s hours for no good reason,” she said.

Clifton College, a mixed day and boarding school on the edge of the Clifton Downs, charges pupils up to pound;16,700 a year and is well known for its arts teaching. Past pupils include actors John Cleese, Sir Michael Redgrave and Trevor Howard.

Mrs Slator, a teacher for 35 years, started working at the college in 1992. She ended up teaching 22 core 40-minute periods a week of A-level theatre studies and GCSE drama. She also gave extra English lessons, private tuition, and helped with school productions and workshops.

She said headmaster Dr Stephen Spurr, a former Eton housemaster who joined the school in September 1999, told her in June 2000 that he wanted to give four of her AS-level theatre studies periods to another teacher.

“This was a devastating blow for me because I adored my job,” she said. “I was one of those people who got up on a Monday morning and thought ‘wonderful - I’m going to work’. I had turned a passion for theatre into a job.”

In a witness statement to the tribunal, Dr Spurr said the rearrangement of the drama teaching duties was designed to “invigorate the subject and increase demand”. He also said he had received complaints about Mrs Slator’s teaching from three pupils and their parents, but denied the reduction in teaching hours was related.

Mrs Slator resigned in August 2000 and lodged complaints of constructive unfair dismissal and indirect sex discrimination with a Bristol employment tribunal.

The tribunal rejected the discrimination claim but awarded her pound;65,832 for lost earnings and pension in relation to constructive unfair dismissal and part-time workers regulations.

The tribunal said that Mrs Slator had “provided exemplary professional service” to the college but judged that as a part-timer, she had been treated less favourably than a comparable full-timer.

Mrs Slator, who intends to retire in three years and has no degree or post-graduate certificate in education, said she has had difficulty finding a comparable job.

David Pasley, director of marketing for the college, said: “We believed at the time that everything was done with the best intentions. It is unfortunate that the tribunal made the decision that it did. We now review our human resources procedures on a regular basis.”

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