Swimming teacher who told 10-year-old girl ‘it looks like you work out’ in front of horrified schoolchildren is sacked

A swimming teacher was sacked after telling a ten-year-old girl in a bathing suit that she ‘looked like she works out’.

Leisure centre tutor Gary Coleman was teaching a class of primary school children when he commented on one girl’s physical appearance in front of other children and in the presence of her school teacher.

Coleman was reported to his employers at Doncaster Culture and Leisure Trust by the girl’s school, which said his comments had made both the girl and her teacher ‘uncomfortable’.

An employment tribunal heard that Coleman admitted making the comment, for which he was promptly sacked by bosses who said he had caused ‘upset and potential damage’ to the youngster.

But the disgraced swim coach tried to sue his former employer for unfair and wrongful dismissal – a claim that has since been thrown out by an employment judge, who ruled it had been right to sack him.

Mr Coleman worked for the Trust – which runs several leisure centres in Doncaster, South Yorks – from May 2015 until he was sacked.

The tribunal heard that on September 30, 2022, he was giving a swimming lesson to a group of primary school children and during the lesson, he told one of the girls ‘it looks like you work out’.

The same day, the girl’s school contacted the company to complain. On behalf of the girl’s parents, the school also asked if Mr Coleman would be running the next lesson.

The following day, Mr Coleman was suspended on full pay while the firm investigated the incident.

He and a female colleague who was present at the time were interviewed, and a disciplinary hearing took place on October 11.

The panel was told that at this hearing, he was told his actions were a ‘clear safeguarding concern’ and had caused ‘upset and potential damage to the child’.

Following this meeting, he was sacked. He then sued for wrongful and unfair dismissal.

Ruling against his claims, Judge Daniel Sills said: ‘I am satisfied that the [company] genuinely believed that [Mr Coleman] was guilty of misconduct and that the belief was based on reasonable grounds.

‘That is because [Mr Coleman] accepts he made the comment and accepts the comment was inappropriate. I am satisfied the [company] carried out a reasonable investigation, given there is no dispute over the facts.

‘The [company’s] case is [Mr Coleman’s] conduct did raise safeguarding issues and did amount to gross misconduct. [Mr Coleman] argues that the [company] was not entitled to find [his] conduct was a safeguarding issue and was not entitled to dismiss [him].

‘In some respects, the decision to dismiss [him] can be seen to be somewhat harsh. This was dismissal for a first offence. It was a single remark made.

‘[Mr Coleman] acknowledged he made the remark and now acknowledges to his credit that the remark was inappropriate.

‘The teachers who give those lessons are in a position of trust. Inappropriate behaviour by swimming teachers employed by the [company] can lead to reputational damage.

‘I turn to the comment itself. It is a comment made by an adult male in a position of trust to a female child aged 10 or 11 about that child’s body and physical appearance when the child was in swimwear and in front of other people.

‘The comment demonstrates he had been observing her physical appearance. In that context, however intended, the comment is highly inappropriate.’

The ruling comes days after an Ofsted inspector was told he is to get compensation after he was fired for brushing water off of a pupil’s forehead on a rainy day.