A DEPUTY headteacher who was sacked after calling another member of staff Miss Knickers has been awarded £43,000 compensation for unfair dismissal.

Unions today called for an overhaul of the disciplinary system after John Hacking's four-year fight against allegations, made while he was at Lammack Primary School, Blackburn.

Blackburn with Darwen Council education chiefs have pledged to see what "lessons can be learned" after the employment tribunal case.

But Mr Hacking, 53, said: "I've been subject to a witch hunt and my career destroyed."

Unions claim the case, estimated to have cost £250,000, should never have been brought against a teacher with an unblemished 30-year teaching career, who had been at the school since 1990.

Mr Hacking, of Earnsdale Avenue, Darwen, was suspended on September 14, 2001. He was dismissed 22 months later for alleged name calling, bullying staff and racist comments.

His appeal against his sacking for gross misconduct failed.

The Manchester tribunal heard the governing body's investigation was triggered after teacher Holly Vickers claimed Mr Hacking called her "Miss Knickers" in front of colleagues and pupils and called her mother, also a teacher, "Mummy Knickers"

.

She complained that on the final day of summer term in 1999 Mr Hacking "kissed her on the lips" and in July 2001 had shouted at her about a school trip.

Colleague Sarah Gibson, whose maiden name was Hayward, complained Mr Hacking referred to her as "Miss Wayward" and said he had also tried to kiss her on the lips.

Secretary Sue Pursglove complained Mr Hacking was aggressive and criticised her running of the office.

But the tribunal said it was unfair to dismiss Mr Hacking without warning him about his conduct.

It slammed the school's staff disciplinary committee for carrying out a "trawling" operation, which led to headteacher Mary Lewis making the allegations of racist remarks.

It said investigators gave little regard to the perceptions and views of those who supported Mr Hacking and said there was no excuse for the 22-month delay between suspension and dismissal.

It said Mr Hacking's kissing antics -- which he said were unintentional -- were "totally inappropriate" but did not justify dismissal because the complaint was not made for two years. And it said his conduct towards Ms Pursglove was no more than a "workplace altercation".

The tribunal found he had "a tendency to make comments and indulge in 'antics' which other members of staff, particularly younger female employees, could justifiably find unacceptable and offensive".

But it said they "did not justify dismissal by a reasonable employer" as he had never been taken to task.

The tribunal said it was at a loss why the head did not take immediate and determined steps to rebuke Mr Hacking over the alleged racist remarks, which he also denied. It said official warnings would have made dismissal justified if he had continued.

The tribunal also noted that after his dismissal, Blackburn with Darwen still deemed him suitable for employment.

Mr Hacking said today: "The names were part of staffroom banter. I was dubbed 'Old Man Lacking' by colleagues and received cards signed with the nicknames.

"Maybe it was inappropriate, but I never did it in front of children and would have stopped straight away if I had been warned I was causing offence."

Dick Greenfield, NASUWT executive member for Lancashire, said: "I'd be amazed if this hearing cost less than £250,000. Yet, if Mr Hacking had received a warning that would have been the end of it -- he'd still be at the school and still have a career.

"I think Blackburn with Darwen's handling of this case has been shambolic. You can't take a complaint and say that person is guilty and look for evidence that supports one side."

Ian Kendrick, deputy director, education and lifelong learning said: "We will look particularly carefully at the detail of the tribunal findings to reflect on what we need to learn from this case.""