Teacher fired for giving zeroes for not doing homework wins appeal

EDMONTON – An Alberta appeal board says the Edmonton Public School Board was unfair in suspending and firing teacher who gave out zeros to his students.

Lynden Dorval was suspended in May 2012 and fired four months later for awarding zeros to students who did not hand in homework or take assigned tests.

Dorval appealed to the Board of Reference and it has ruled that Dorval was treated unfairly in his dismissal.

The appeal board has ordered that Dorval be paid his salary from the date of his dismissal and also that his pension be topped up.

It also says it found no evidence of deliberate misconduct on Dorval’s part.

Dorval says the ruling was a pleasant surprise.

“The Board of Reference was very harsh on what the principal had done and how the superintendent had handled it so I was surprised at that, and also the no-zero, I was expecting virtually no comment on the correctness of the no-zero policy, I assumed that it would be strictly about the legality of what the school board did,” Dorval said.

The school board has 30 days to file the appeal.

In April 2013, the school board reversed its "no-zero" policy policy which barred teachers from giving students a grade of zero.