The case of a music teacher in New South Wales who allegedly experienced discrimination after she told the school she works for that she was transitioning gender will be heard in the federal court.
Zoe Conolan-Glen filed the complaint with the Human Rights Commission in July 2024, and in December it was referred to the federal court.
The teacher was employed by Sydney Catholic Schools. She claims that when she informed her employer, she was transitioning gender they asked invasive questions including which bathroom she would use and how she would explain her gender to parents.
Conolan-Glen had worked for Sydney Catholic Schools across three different schools as a part-time music teacher since 2021 The Guardian reported.
It’s alleged that her employer suggested she should move to a new school at the beginning of the 2024 school year, something she agreed to, but as the new year began, she was not assigned a position.
According to Conolan-Glen’s statement of claim, the organisation allegedly sent her a letter in March 2024, expressing concern regarding her “observable male characteristics” and inviting her to take leave with no pay until the end of the year.
She rejected the offer, and was instead offered a administrative position without student contact. When she was considered for a position at a school later in the year it is alleged that a series of questions were asked about her intended bathroom use and how she would respond to questions from parents about her gender.
It is also alleged the school wanted to send an internal communication to all staff outlining Conolan-Glenn’s gender transition, when she refused to agree to this condition the offer a position did not progress further.
Speaking to The Guardian Conolan-Glen said all she wanted to do was teach.
“I’ve been teaching my whole working life,” she said. “My parents and grandparents were teachers. That’s all I want to do, and my gender shouldn’t be a barrier to that.”
The education provider has declined to comment on the case.
Rights advocates have noted that teachers are often discriminated over their gender and sexuality, especially within religious based schools.
