Maths tutor fired after asking if girl, 14, wanted to be seen as ‘sex object’

A maths tutor who asked a 14-year-old female student whether she wanted to be seen to be a “sex object” has failed to regain his job after the country’s fair work umpire ruled his behaviour was unacceptable.

Sydney man Evangelos Benetatos, who was employed by tutoring company Maths Words not Squiggles, was dismissed for misconduct in November last year.

Earlier that month, he had been tutoring two students at the company’s Rosebery centre when another student entered the room.

The man said he turned and found to his “complete surprise” one of his former students standing with her back to him at the bookshelves, 1.5 metres from the entrance to the room.

“[She was] caressing a text and moving it in and out of the bookshelf for approximately three seconds,” he said. “She was also standing with her sports shorts lifted very high above her hips in a fashion that would be difficult to sit or walk in.”

The man said, “inappropriate, inappropriate” to the student who replied that she had come in to pick up a textbook, to which he repeated the words, “inappropriate, inappropriate”.

The student then said she wanted to photocopy either a page, or pages, and removed the book, according to the man, who said he asked her: “Do you want to be seen to be a sex object in the yard?”

The man said he told the student she did not want to be viewed as one by students and teachers, before pausing to add, “or tutors either”, and told the commission “the student’s behaviour was provocative enough for it to be inappropriate not to comment”.

He said the student took the book out of the room with a look “indicative of mild surprise”, and that he then told the other students in the room that “this is why they have school uniforms at school”.

According to the man, one of the students in the class then said that students do use sports shorts, to which he responded that “if you go swimming at school, you do not wear your swimwear to class”.

The student’s mother provided a statement on behalf of her daughter saying she had briefly entered the room because she had left her maths textbook at school and needed to photograph several pages from another student’s copy to complete her work.

“He gave her permission,” the mother said. “While [the student] was taking photographs, [the tutor] turned to her and stated, ‘do you want to be a sex object?’”

The student, “visibly confused and shocked”, responded, “what?” according to the mother, who alleged the tutor then repeatedly said: “You are going to turn into a sex object” and “I’m so disappointed.”

The mother said the student was dressed in “average-length” shorts and a hoodie, and that her clothing was casual and appropriate. “Regardless, attire is irrelevant and does not excuse or justify sexualised remarks to a young teenage girl or any child for that matter,” she said.

The mother also said that as a result of these repeated comments, the student said she began experiencing distress and symptoms consistent with a panic attack, including rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath and shaking. “She felt embarrassed, humiliated and unsafe,” the mother said.

The tutoring centre also provided CCTV footage of the exchange, but did not contain audio so was not useful in determining exactly what the tutor had said, according to commissioner Damian Sloan.

“However, as to the student’s conduct, it is consistent with the description provided by the student’s mother,” he said. “There is nothing remarkable about the student’s appearance, either as to the length of her shorts or the way she is wearing them. Further, the student does not approach the bookcase, let alone ‘caress’ a book as [the tutor] suggested … there is nothing ‘provocative’ about her conduct.”

The tutor claimed the footage had been fabricated, doctored or manipulated, stating for example, that it showed one of the other students to be in a grey hoodie when he clearly remembered him being in school uniform.

However, the commissioner accepted the CCTV footage was genuine.

While he accepted the man’s record of the exact words he had said to the student, Sloan said it made little difference which version of dialogue he used.

After a complaint was sent to the tutoring centre by the student’s mother, the principal and founder of the centre met with the mother and the tutor, providing the man with the CCTV footage and saying his conduct had been wrong.

The man acknowledged that what he had said was inappropriate and offered to apologise to the student, but was informed he had been suspended from work immediately while the matter was investigated.

In meetings following the incident, the principal discussed changes to the man’s approach, including not sharing personal beliefs or thoughts about topics not relating to mathematics. However, the man said he was unsure if he could work within those parameters, only later agreeing he could meet that level of formality.

The principal also said she was “dumbfounded” by the fact the man said he had had these types of conversations in the past. “That’s when I knew my duty of care was to the kids,” she said, noting that she then decided to terminate the man’s employment.

The commissioner said that considering the man’s evidence and submissions, “and having observed his demeanour at the determinative conference”, he considered the principal’s concerns were “well founded”.

Sloan also said the man’s conduct “fell well short” of the standards required in holding a working with children check” and that “on any analysis, [the tutor’s] conduct was unacceptable” and classed as serious misconduct.

“Whether or not he regarded the student’s attire or conduct to be inappropriate, there was no warrant for him to use such sexualised, shaming and belittling language towards the student,” he said. “That he did so in the presence of other students makes his behaviour all the more troubling.”

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