Labour Court hears final arguments in Wesley Neumann's dismissal case

Legal teams on Friday submitted their final arguments in a Labour Court battle between a former high school principal and the Western Cape Education Department (WCED).

Former Heathfield High School principal Wesley Neumann was dismissed after refusing to adhere to the Western Cape Education Department's instructions for learners to return to school during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The WCED and Neuman's legal team have made their final submissions today for the court to make a decision.

The Western Cape Education Department's lawyer Collin Kahanovits, referred to a letter Neumann wrote to the department, which led to him being charged with insubordination.

Neumann wrote the letter to the WCED after refusing to adhere to instructions for learners to return to school during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"If you do attack the head of the organisation in the way he did, saying the things he did, and publicly slanders and vilifies his employer. How surprised should he be when he ends up getting charged with misconduct?"

Neumann's lawyer Vernon Seymour told the court the arbitrator's ruling to dismiss his client should be set aside.

"There's nothing in the award that suggests he even remotely applied his mind to the issue. He simply slavishly followed the narrative as if there was no pandemic."

The court has indicated it will rule on the matter within the next three months.