Former students of a science teacher fired from a private school he’d worked at for decades after an email blunder have come to his defence, saying he went above and beyond to help students succeed.
The Federal Court heard Stanislaw Kosiek’s 22-year career with Marist College Ashgrove in Brisbane’s north came to an abrupt end last month over an email criticising “the big end of town” — and for taking a trip to Bali while he was stood down.
In response, he went to the Fair Work Commission, seeking re-employment, compensation and penalties.
A Federal Court judge found he was “completely honest” with his pre-planned Bali trip, which he notified the school about, and there was a “serious question to be tried” that he was fired because he complained about his supervisor.
Now that the circumstances surrounding Mr Kosiek’s court case and sudden departure from the school have come to light, students have shared their feelings over the news.
Speaking to news.com.au anonymously, one former Marist student of Mr Kosiek’s described him as the “best science teacher” the college had.
“Mr Kosiek was the head of house for Foley all throughout me and my brother’s schooling at Marist,” he said.
“Knowing Mr Kosiek since 2015, I can tell you that he has only ever had the best intentions for the education of students and the overall success of the college. Every single student of Mr Kosiek will support the statement that Stan is the best science teacher Marist had, best head of house and holds integrity for the college”.
He went on to share an anecdote about how Mr Kosiek contacted his parents and organised extra time to help with the next term’s exam after he got a C+.
“He believed I was capable of achieving a better mark in science, despite my current mark being above a fail,” he said.
“Mr Kosiek came to my pastoral group in the morning and helped me revise over the term’s content leading up to the next exam, and I ended up achieving a flat A. I strongly believe he’s reciprocated these good intentions for every student over the 20+ years he’s been teaching”.
The former Marist student was disappointed Mr Kosiek would not be at the college during his younger sibling’s final years — unless he is reinstated into teaching there, as he sought in his Fair Work Commission claim.
Another student previously taught by Mr Kosiek said he and other boys “wouldn’t be the same individuals (they) are today” without having been in his class.
“Stan is a highly respected member of the staff and teaching cohort at Marist, and is a willing and participative leader for the boys,” he told news.com.au.
“He was a well respected and driven leader of the Foley house, and not once did Stan show any prejudice or distaste for any other members of the community”.
A third student said they missed out on having Mr Kosiek teach them in their term 4 physics class due to him being fired and have therefore had “a very disruptive year of Physics”.
“I don’t know who my teacher will be for term 4, and I absolutely do not believe there will be a replacement teacher that can match Mr Kosiek’s ability to pass on his wealth of knowledge,” they said.
How an email mistake sparked the end of a 22-year career
According to the Federal Court judgment, Mr Kosiek was fired in August after writing an email with “inappropriate comments about a fellow employee” which was meant for his union representative but instead landed in the inbox of “a large number of recipients”.
The February 17 email began with Mr Kosiek saying his “old recent brain” recalls a time when “serious breaches, glitches (and) minor problems were resolved calmly, professionally and successfully”.
It continued: “Now, within the last 2 years the same long term staff continue to (be) amazing! However, recently leadership in the IT area has been less than adequate.
“Continuous leaning on past breaches for excuses for not getting current breaches … We have amazing IT staff but recently the big end of town stop (sic) feeding at the pool tuck shop and live up to their $250,000 job”.
On February 19, he “withdrew the offending emailed comment by replying to the same recipients,” the judgment stated.
The next day, the school’s head of college, Michael Newman, met with Mr Kosiek to stand him down on paid leave while they investigate the email, and gave him two days to respond to a letter in which Mr Newman said the accidental email had caused “great upset”.
According to the judgment, Mr Newman wrote that the email may have amounted to bullying and breached the school’s code of conduct and employee privacy.
He wrote there was “something quite upsetting” about the “tuck shop” comment and reference to the “big end of town” along with someone’s salary.
“Your comments appear to infer that the IT manager is making excuses, is responsible for previous breaches and that he is not taking responsibility,” he wrote, adding there was no reference to the “incredible work” done on behalf of IT management.
“If the allegations can be substantiated and there is no reasonable explanation for your conduct it may amount to serious misconduct … and a breach of your own personal statutory obligations to ensure the safety and privacy of children in our care”.
In response to the letter, Mr Kosiek’s lawyer wrote to Marist’s legal team to say the allegation regarding children’s safety and privacy was “simply untrue and outrageous”.
According to the judgement, Mr Newman later apologised for the reference to children’s safety and privacy.
Between April and May, Mr Kosiek was approved to take sick leave instead of using long service leave during his stand down period and provided management with a medical certificate.
On May 11, Mr Koseik wrote to the school’s deputy head of college, Charles Brauer, informing him that he had “arranged for an overseas holiday” between May 12 and May 23 last year, at a time when he had approved long service leave.
He wrote that his medical advice was that he was able to travel overseas and, given that he was stood down, he was applying for leave without pay for the duration of his trip.
After the internal investigation and several conversations between the parties’ lawyers, the school decided it would not punish Mr Koseik beyond a formal warning and he returned to teaching on July 11.
According to court documents, three days later, Mr Koseik directly emailed the head of IT to apologise for the February 17 email.
But just weeks after returning to work, Mr Koseik was sacked.
Marist blamed his employment termination on travelling to Bali during a “period of alleged unfitness” and while under sick leave.
It also stated he was “lawfully and reasonably directed” to issue the apology to the head of IT through Mr Brauer, but instead emailed them directly and in a way that was “not considered adequate”.
“It appears that you have demonstrated a pattern of falling short of the standards required by your Employment Agreement, the College’s Code of Conduct and policies and our Marist values,” the termination letter read.
But Mr Koseik’s lawyer hit back, telling the college he had provided notice of his trip to Bali and the circumstances surrounding his sick leave, was not instructed to apologise to the head of IT through Mr Brauer and had been targeted for exercising his workplace rights under the FWA.
To the Federal Court, Mr Koseik argued Marist breached his rights under the FWA to make a complaint or inquiry concerning his employment, have a safe workplace and not be bullied, take personal leave by reason of illness or injury and to initiate or participate in a dispute resolution process under the EBA.
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Justice Berna Joan Collier accepted the evidence showed Mr Koseik “had been completely honest with the first respondent concerning the basis on which he wished to travel to Bali during his sick leave, including that his attending medical practitioner had endorsed that travel as beneficial to the applicant’s health”.
“The appropriate order is to dismiss the applicant’s claim for interlocutory relief, and further order that the substantive issues be heard as soon as possible by a judge of this court,” Justice Collier wrote.
The case will return to court on a later date if mediation between the parties is not successful.
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