During 2021 and 2022, a teacher and a 13-year-old student at a school in Linköping sent 12,400 SMS to each other, according to a police investigation. In many messages, the teacher commented on the student's appearance.
The police investigation was dropped since the teacher was not suspected of having committed a crime. However, the school management decided to fire the teacher, and after an investigation, the School Inspectorate turned to the Teachers' Disciplinary Board, which revoked the teacher's license.
But after an appeal, the Administrative Court ruled that the teacher could keep their license and instead received a warning, as poor judgment was not sufficient to revoke the teaching license.
Later, the man was fired from another school, citing "personal reasons". The trade union, Sveriges Lärare, attempted to invalidate the dismissal, but without success. Then, they requested a central dispute resolution with Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner.
The union claimed that Linköping Municipality had committed a breach of the Employment Protection Act and demanded that the dismissal be invalidated and that the teacher receive compensation.
The teacher did not get their job back – but in December, the parties agreed that Linköping Municipality would pay 462,000 kronor in compensation to the teacher.
