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Gay primary school principal awarded $902,000 after he was 'wrongfully' sacked for having threesome with two 17-year-old boys

Matthew Alpin claimed he was unfairly dismissed and discriminated against because of his sexual orientation. It was later found that he was wrongfully dismissed

A primary school headteacher who was fired after he had sex with two 17-year-old boys has been awarded close to $1 million as compensation after it was found that he was wrongfully dismissed.

Matthew Alpin, the head of the Tywyn Primary School in Sandfields, Port Talbot, Wales, had sex with the two teenagers after meeting them on gay dating app Grindr in August 2015, according to the BCC, and had to step down from his position after pressure from school governors who cited safeguarding issues.

He was accused of engaging in "behavior bringing the school into disrepute, conduct incompatible with the role of the headteacher both which seriously undermined the trust and confidence of the school in its headteacher."  

Alpin, who had been a teacher for 19 years, appealed the decision and filed claims of unfair dismissal and sexual orientation discrimination against the school, with the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) subsequently ruling in favor of the teacher in September 2017.

The school governors appealed the decision but saw it dismissed this past March, with Judge Shanks stating that "openly gay" Alpin had been sacked immediately after his fling came to light on the basis that his judgment had undermined their trust and confidence in him.

This past week, the EAT ordered the governing body of Tywyn Primary School to pay Aplin $902,000 and said the teacher's career had shown he is "an individual who was dedicated to working in the education sector and someone who was not only ambitious but effectively so." 

They noted Alpin had found it difficult to obtain new employment close to his home, which he had claimed was due to being "deliberately undermined," and criticized the governors for "acquiescing" to the wish of the local education authority (LEA) to dismiss him from his post.

"The panel had no understanding of the reasons given for dismissal, the tribunal drew the conclusion that the panel decided upon dismissal but was entirely reliant on the LEA advisers for its reasoning," the tribunal said.