Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

A campaign to re-instate a dinner lady sacked for gross misconduct is growing online.

Nita O’Dell, 54, had worked at the Billesley Primary School in Birmingham for almost 21 years. On her Facebook, she had shared a meme that read “Guide dog for a Muslim woman. It’s called a Barka.” Variations of this meme have appeared in different forms since 2010.

The school fired O’Dell for gross misconduct in September. An anonymous source had sent the school a screenshot of the shared meme. She lost the appeal last Thursday.

Yet to suggest this sacking came from this one incident is untrue. A spokesperson for the school confirmed that this was not an isolated incident. All staff had been warned about public Facebook posts. O’Dell had been on a final warning prior to the sharing of this meme.

Newspaper headlines, however, distort this fact:

“Give her back her job”: Mail readers support dinner lady sacked over burka joke on Facebook

Community calls for dinner lady sacked for ‘liking’ Facebook burka joke to be given job back

RACIST? School dinner lady SACKED after 21 years for ‘liking’ burka dog joke on Facebook

School dinner lady sacked after 20 years for ‘liking’ burka joke picture on Facebook

This story remains a cautionary tale about public posts on Facebook. And of the need to read beyond headlines.