Teaching Assistant Loses Unfair Dismissal Claim After Tickling Incident

A primary school teaching assistant has lost his unfair dismissal claim after being fired for tickling five schoolgirls with a crocodile puppet and making an inappropriate comment. Peter La Bouchardiere, who worked at Edward Pauling Primary School in Feltham, west London, for nearly ten years, was dismissed in September 2023 for gross misconduct.

The case centered on allegations that Mr. La Bouchardiere had behaved inappropriately towards female year six pupils. A report in March 2023 stated that he had been tickling a pupil and four of her friends on their waists during PE lessons and Gifted and Talented club sessions, using a puppet to pretend to "get" them.

The tribunal also heard that during a homework club, a pupil was singing a song from a cartoon titled "I got some squirrels in my pants." Mr. La Bouchardiere responded by asking, "Would you like some nuts in your pants?" After a brief pause, he added "for the squirrel." The pupil's mother described the comment as "extremely inappropriate."

During the school's investigation, Mr. La Bouchardiere was suspended. When questioned about the "nuts" comment, he reportedly said, "Oh, now I understand how that sounds." He later explained in a letter that he had been referring to "feeding squirrels nuts" and had not meant anything inappropriate. At a disciplinary meeting, he admitted to playfully "biting" children near the waist and hip with the crocodile puppet, stating it was "tongue in cheek and cheekiness" and that he had known some pupils for eight years, engaging in friendly banter.

He was interviewed by police, admitted tickling the children and enjoying "banter," but did not believe they had ever indicated they disliked it. No further action was taken by the police.

Mr. La Bouchardiere appealed his dismissal, arguing the school's investigation was not thorough enough, but the appeal was unsuccessful. He told the tribunal he did not think tickling was problematic until he discussed casual touching with the police and did not consider tickling the waist inappropriate until it was explained to him.

Giving evidence, the school's vice chair of governors, Peter Tyndale, stated that the school panel had considered alternatives to dismissal, with one member suggesting a final written warning. However, the panel ultimately decided dismissal was the appropriate sanction due to serious safeguarding concerns. "You cannot touch children in a swimming costume area," Mr. Tyndale stated.

Employment Judge Colin Baran ruled that the school was entitled to dismiss Mr. La Bouchardiere, citing his own admissions and serious safeguarding concerns. The judge found that the admitted conduct breached safeguarding principles and the school's code of conduct, meeting the definition of gross misconduct sufficiently serious to justify dismissal.