School fostered misogyny, excused behaviour as ‘boys will be boys’, court told
A former drama teacher at Marist College Ashgrove, Victoria Sparrow, alleges she was attacked by students during a lunch duty in 2023 and suffered a serious psychiatric injury. Her legal team claims the school fostered a culture of misogyny and has withheld key documents related to the incident and staff complaints. The school's representatives argue that broader cultural issues are irrelevant and that the focus should remain on whether a duty of care was breached.
- ▪Victoria Sparrow alleges she was surrounded and pelted with food by students during a rainy lunch duty at Marist College Ashgrove in October 2023.
- ▪Her legal team claims the school fostered a culture of misogyny and has failed to release documents, including staff notes and safety procedures.
- ▪Sparrow's barrister presented statements from a dozen female staff members describing harassment and complaints made to the school.
- ▪The school's lawyer argues that claims about a misogynistic culture are irrelevant to the legal question of duty of care.
- ▪Marist College Ashgrove is a Catholic boys' school in Brisbane with over 1800 students from years 5 to 12.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Sydney Morning Herald.