- Father's Day fight ends up in court
- By Kate Kyriacou
- Sunday Mail (Adelaide, Australia)
- 01/06/2008 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: admin ( 27 articles in 2008 )
A furious dad has taken legal action against his son's primary school, accusing it of sexual discrimination because he said it forgot Father's Day.
Dr David Hudson complained a beachside primary school included a Mother's Day advert in its newsletter, but failed to similarly acknowledge Father's Day.
The complaint was part of a wide-ranging sex discrimination claim to the Equal Opportunity Tribunal, where he also alleged he had not been given proper access to information on his son's education.
The tribunal ruled against him on May 22, but he has vowed to fight on, saying he wanted to bring further complaints of sexual discrimination against the school.
He also attacked the school, which cannot be named for legal reasons, for staging a charity cross-dressing "Gender Bender" day to raise money for homeless children.
In its decision, the tribunal ruled Dr Hudson had failed in all 16 of his points of complaint against the Department of Education and Children's Services.
In one complaint, Dr Hudson said in 2006 the school placed a notice in its newsletter celebrating mums ahead of Mother's Day, but did not pay fathers the same tribute.
The omission of "an equally sized and prominent advertisement for Father's Day" meant the school had failed to recognise the "roles that a father jointly played with the mother of the child in the long-term care, welfare, and development of their child", he said in documents tendered to the tribunal.
Dr Hudson demanded $20,000 damages and that DECS create a competition for school children to design a Father's Day poster.
He asked the tribunal to force DECS to allow him and his son to judge the competition and select the winning poster, which would then be printed in a metropolitan newspaper. In its response, DECS said: "In 2006 the school newsletter contained a feature story in the newsletter highlighting Mother's Day, but not Father's Day.
"This was a genuine oversight by the school which was at that time very busy with its 125th birthday celebrations."
Dr Hudson told the Sunday Mail he stood by his Father's Day complaint.
"I suppose some people might see that as frivolous but it is all part of the bigger picture," he said. Dr Hudson was also incensed at advertisements in the school's newsletter spruiking parenting classes for single dads.
"I don't need people to come in and tell me how to feed and clothe my child," he said. "So often males are labelled on gender alone as being troublemakers."
And he was also angered that in one school newsletter, the school announced plans for a Gender Bender day where girls could dress as boys and boys as girls to raise money for a charity.
He raised his concerns with the school and wrote to child protection expert Professor Freda Briggs, who slammed the idea as lunacy and said it was potentially ``psychologically damaging''.
"If a boy chooses female clothing for imaginative play and dressing up in the classroom or to take part in a play voluntarily, it's a different matter because the choice is his," she said in an email to Dr Hudson.
Dr Hudson said he tendered the email exchange to the tribunal as part of his evidence but did not make a specific complaint about the Gender Bender as one of the 16 "particulars" of his sex discrimination complaint. During the hearing, Dr Hudson also complained the school enrolled his son in courses without consulting him and provided discriminating information on its website and throughout departmental material.
Dr Hudson said the State Government could seek costs against him now the Equal Opportunity Tribunal had ruled against him.
A DECS spokeswoman said it was their policy both parents should be provided with information on their child's schooling.
The primary school could not be contacted yesterday.
Dr David Hudson complained a beachside primary school included a Mother's Day advert in its newsletter, but failed to similarly acknowledge Father's Day.
The complaint was part of a wide-ranging sex discrimination claim to the Equal Opportunity Tribunal, where he also alleged he had not been given proper access to information on his son's education.
The tribunal ruled against him on May 22, but he has vowed to fight on, saying he wanted to bring further complaints of sexual discrimination against the school.
He also attacked the school, which cannot be named for legal reasons, for staging a charity cross-dressing "Gender Bender" day to raise money for homeless children.
In its decision, the tribunal ruled Dr Hudson had failed in all 16 of his points of complaint against the Department of Education and Children's Services.
In one complaint, Dr Hudson said in 2006 the school placed a notice in its newsletter celebrating mums ahead of Mother's Day, but did not pay fathers the same tribute.
The omission of "an equally sized and prominent advertisement for Father's Day" meant the school had failed to recognise the "roles that a father jointly played with the mother of the child in the long-term care, welfare, and development of their child", he said in documents tendered to the tribunal.
Dr Hudson demanded $20,000 damages and that DECS create a competition for school children to design a Father's Day poster.
He asked the tribunal to force DECS to allow him and his son to judge the competition and select the winning poster, which would then be printed in a metropolitan newspaper. In its response, DECS said: "In 2006 the school newsletter contained a feature story in the newsletter highlighting Mother's Day, but not Father's Day.
"This was a genuine oversight by the school which was at that time very busy with its 125th birthday celebrations."
Dr Hudson told the Sunday Mail he stood by his Father's Day complaint.
"I suppose some people might see that as frivolous but it is all part of the bigger picture," he said. Dr Hudson was also incensed at advertisements in the school's newsletter spruiking parenting classes for single dads.
"I don't need people to come in and tell me how to feed and clothe my child," he said. "So often males are labelled on gender alone as being troublemakers."
And he was also angered that in one school newsletter, the school announced plans for a Gender Bender day where girls could dress as boys and boys as girls to raise money for a charity.
He raised his concerns with the school and wrote to child protection expert Professor Freda Briggs, who slammed the idea as lunacy and said it was potentially ``psychologically damaging''.
"If a boy chooses female clothing for imaginative play and dressing up in the classroom or to take part in a play voluntarily, it's a different matter because the choice is his," she said in an email to Dr Hudson.
Dr Hudson said he tendered the email exchange to the tribunal as part of his evidence but did not make a specific complaint about the Gender Bender as one of the 16 "particulars" of his sex discrimination complaint. During the hearing, Dr Hudson also complained the school enrolled his son in courses without consulting him and provided discriminating information on its website and throughout departmental material.
Dr Hudson said the State Government could seek costs against him now the Equal Opportunity Tribunal had ruled against him.
A DECS spokeswoman said it was their policy both parents should be provided with information on their child's schooling.
The primary school could not be contacted yesterday.
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