A school principal told the Employment Appeals Tribunal in Dublin yesterday about a teacher going "berserk" and "frothing at the mouth" during an incident at the school at which he taught in August 2001.
The tribunal heard in testimony from Fr Martin Daly, principal of the Catholic University School (CUS), Leeson Street, Dublin that Paul Kiernan, an art teacher, had entered the staff room and acted in a violent manner, following a confrontation between the two.
Speaking at the tribunal, Fr Daly said: "I heard that Mr Kiernan had gone berserk in the staff room, screaming, shouting and frothing at the mouth. He was saying that I and the deputy principal had been plotting against him."
Following the incident, Mr Kiernan went on sick leave.
Mr Kiernan, with an address at Whitecliff Estate, Rathfarnham, Dublin, has not been paid any salary since July 2002, as he had not been permitted to return to work since the incident.
He is claiming that despite having clearance from his doctors, the school has prevented him from returning to work and has denied him the "ability to provide for my family". Mr Kiernan is claiming he was a victim of bullying by the school's administration and the absence of his salary has caused him and his family severe stress and strain.
The school's board of management initially sought advice from the Department of Education on how to handle the matter, Fr Daly said.
The board then sought an independent psychiatric evaluation of Mr Kiernan before they permitted his return to work.
On receipt of the report from the school's nominated psychiatrist, the board took the opinion that Mr Kiernan was "unfit to return to work, and that he could present a level of risk to staff and perhaps pupils at the school".
The department also received the report and ordered its chief medical officer to make an assessment of Mr Kiernan during the summer of 2002.
Initially determining he was unfit for work, the department, upon receipt of documentation from Mr Kiernan's doctors saying he was fit to work, called for another assessment by the school's psychiatrist. The second evaluation has yet to take place.
The hearing continues today.