Teacher sues over lack of leaving present

The board of governors of a school are being sued by a former teacher for not buying her a leaving present. The woman was dismissed as a religious studies teacher after 16 years at the school. She said she is claiming £460 compensation as a matter of principle. She had paid £5 a year into a fund which bought presents for teachers leaving or retiring, but she had received nothing. The school said she did not get a leaving present as she was not at school to personally receive it, but the teacher said she had been banned from the premises. The teacher is also claiming £300 for personal belongings which she said the governors had failed to hand over.