A Victorian teacher who was sacked after entering into a relationship with a former student has won $90,000 in compensation from the school that fired him.
News Ltd reports that John Martin, 59, was fired by Padua College after the principal discovered he was in a relationship with Samantha Anderson, then 18, who had recently graduated from the school.
Samantha’s parents complained to the school about the relationship, saying the teacher met their daughter at the gym, the beach and for coffee while she was still in year 12 at the school’s Mornington campus.
Mr Martin was teaching at the Rosebud campus at the time.
However, Mr Martin said the relationship did not begin until six days after Samantha finished her HSC.
“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 report says.
Mr Martin denied grooming the student and he denied having a sexual relationship with Samantha while she was at school.
Samantha also denied that Mr Martin had groomed her while she was a student, and she testified that “he never physically touched her in an inappropriate or sexual way before she graduated.”
