Dear Mr Gaston,

Thank you for the belated and court-ordered’ apology I received from you today (27/02). I respect and acknowledge the effort you took to follow the judge’s order to issue this apology. I am however very disappointed that you had to be ‘forced/ordered’ to apologise to me despite having been racially harassed and pushed out of the teaching profession by your senior managers.

I am very disappointed that you failed to act in 2020 when you were sent a without Prejudice letter which laid out in detail how I was being treated by three (white) female members of your senior management team. As the principal of HSDC, including Alton College, you had a duty of care to protect me and any other members of your colleges, from the abuse of power I was subjected to.

Due to the hostile working environment and being targeted by these members of staff because of the colour of my skin, I was forced to resign on 2 February 2021. You didn’t reach out to find out for yourself why I felt forced out. Perhaps the following summary will help you understand why I am still very upset and dismissive of words without actions:

• Stephanie Richardson racially discriminated against me in 2017, as proven by the ET judges, when she denied me both job security and promotion within the English department.
• In December 2019, Claire Scott and Stephanie Richardson ‘staged’ a joint lesson observation as a vengeful act, following my appeal for justice in 2017. The highly degrading lesson feedback was designed to ruin my career as a teacher at Alton College and directly led to me being diagnosed with anxiety and depression.  
• Claire Scott racially harassed me by sending an email to Stephanie and Nicola Kingsley that accused me of playing the race card when I contested her feedback comments and grading (‘she is throwing the E&D Black comment at me too,’)
• After 24 years of working at South Downs college and having been promoted to the Teaching and Learning manager within the year, Claire left HSDC in Spring 2020. She is now the Director of Teaching, Learning and Quality Improvement at Basingstoke College of Technology (BCoT), where she has even been directly involved in anti-racist training!!
• Stephanie Richardson failed to provide any evidence of my alleged (by her) underperformance or unsuitability for teaching A Level English (the ET judges later agreed I was a ‘good teacher’ and the most suitable candidate for the advertised role, which I had been denied any opportunity to contest in 2017). Nicola steadfastly supported all of Stephanie’s lies. Both Nicola and Stephanie were subsequently promoted!
• Leona Berry (Head of HR) received two emails (Oct 2020 and July 2021), in which I pleaded with your organisation to review and reflect on its misjudged and ill-informed stance – but to no avail.
• Suki Dhesi, who projects herself as an anti-racism champion for HSDC, turned a blind eye to the racially harassing email by Claire Scott – an indifferent act that compounded my psychiatric distress. She carried out an incomplete and distorted ‘independent’ investigation into my complaints, which Richard Barlow was happy to ‘rubber stamp’.

• I was ignored and silenced whilst on long term sick leave (contributing to my Constructive dismissal in Feb 2021)
• I spent over £50K (while unemployed) defending my human right to be treated with dignity and respect. Anti-racist training and reading about Black people (which your organisation promotes) do not instil respect for others.
• Despite holding a postgraduate qualification, with many years of teaching experience, I am now just another unemployed, and disadvantaged black British woman because of your senior managers’ racist attitudes!  
• This apology will never cure the psychiatric injury I sustained because of the abuse and racial harassment I suffered at the hands of those who had a legal duty to protect me.
• What would have happened if I didn’t have the money to pay for legal representation? I would probably have lost the case and your organisation would be suing me for costs!

Yours sincerely,

B. K.  Knight