A headteacher bullied by Baby P council chief Sharon Shoesmith has had a ruling that she was unfairly dismissed upheld.
Dr June Alexis was sacked as head of John Loughborough School in Tottenham in a row over performance. At the time, Ms Shoesmith was Haringey council's head of children's services and in charge of the borough's schools.
Dr Alexis took her case to an employment tribunal this year after alleging her sacking came after a prolonged campaign of bullying. The tribunal ruled she was unfairly dismissed. The council has now lost its appeal against the decision, and the ruling of unfair dismissal has been maintained.
Dr Alexis, who was dismissed in October 2008, denied that standards of behaviour and education had fallen since she took over in 2005. She said: "The school was improving so I don't know why I was treated so terribly."
The 62-year-old claimed that during one of a series of meetings with the council, Ms Shoesmith "slammed her fist on the table three times" after losing her temper over Dr Alexis' refusal to resign. Dr Alexis said: "She was so abusive, her behaviour towards me was awful. They have ruined my career and reputation."
In the original ruling, the tribunal stated that Dr Alexis had been "bullied over a prolonged period of time by the respondents to secure her removal".
Three months after Dr Alexis's dismissal, Ms Shoesmith, 58, was sacked from her £133,000-a-year job over her handling of the case of Baby P - 17 month-old Peter Connelly, who died in 2007 after abuse by his mother, her boyfriend and their lodger. Ms Shoesmith's dismissal has been overturned by the Supreme Court.
John Loughborough School, which is run by Christian church the Seventh-day Adventists, was the first English school from outside the traditional Christian denominations to receive a state subsidy to create a faith school.
Ms Shoesmith had overseen the school, which teaches mainly Afro-Caribbean pupils, since 1998.
A Haringey council spokesman said: "We accept the findings of the employment appeal tribunal. Our focus now, as always, is on the wellbeing of all of the children at John Loughborough.
We will continue to work with the school to ensure that all pupils are offered the best possible education and opportunities."
