A VICTORIAN teacher who was sacked after striking up a love affair with a former student will be paid $90,000 by his former employer.
John Martin, 59, was fired in 2013, after 17 years at Padua College, when the principal discovered he was in a relationship with an 18-year-old who recently graduated from the school.
Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal senior member Noreen Megay found the school treated Mr Martin unfairly and discriminated against him by terminating his employment because of his lawful sexual activity with the former student.
The principal who sacked Mr Martin became aware the teacher met the student at the gym, the beach and for coffee while she was in year 12 at the Mornington campus.
Mr Martin was teaching at the Rosebud campus at the time.
The girl’s parents complained when she started having sex with Mr Martin shortly after finishing school, as they believed he groomed her while she was a student, the tribunal heard.
Mr Martin denied grooming the student and having a sexual relationship with her while she was at school.
The tribunal heard the teacher was fired after the college launched an independent investigation, which found he had crossed professional boundaries while she was a student.
As a result, Mr Martin filed his complaint with VCAT.
He said he suffered isolation and ridicule over the relationship he said was lawful and he lost his 30-year teaching career and the respect from colleagues.
VCAT has ordered to school to pay the teacher $80,000 for economic loss and $10,000 for pain and suffering.
The young woman refuted any allegations suggesting Mr Martin had groomed her while she was a student.
She said he never physically touched her in an inappropriate or sexual way before she graduated.
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