The porn actress Ilona
Staller, better known as Cicciolina, had no problem becoming a member of
the Italian parliament, and Geri Halliwell found that appearing topless in
her youth was no barrier to becoming a goodwill ambassador for the United
Nations.
But a tribunal ruling this week demonstrated that England's authorities
are not prepared to be as forgiving when it comes to social workers taking
their clothes off for the camera.
Former carer Fleur Maidment lost her claim for unfair dismissal after
being sacked over an appearance in the readers' wives section of the adult
magazine Escort. Her employer, Shropshire county council, claimed the
pictures represented a conflict with her work with vulnerable young
people. One legal specialist has labelled the ruling "crazy".
Thirty-one-year-old Ms Maidment's case is a graphic example of the
difficulties social workers can face when their private lives come into
conflict with professional duties.
Speaking to the tribunal, Ms Maidment said she believed the pictures,
which had been seen by young people in the care home she worked for, did
not represent a barrier to her working as a carer. It remains unclear
exactly how the youngsters obtained the May 2000 edition of Escort.
Ms Maidment told the tribunal: "I can see the conflict that this
caused, but I do feel that any difficulties that may have arisen? were not
insurmountable. In time I would have been able to carry on as normal."
The council disagreed and did not find Ms Maidment, of Sutton Farm,
Shrewsbury, another job before dismissing her.
Social services director John Weeks said: "This individual was in a
position of care in relation to some vulnerable young people, including
young females."
The pictures, the council claimed, created a conflict between Ms
Maidment's private life and her professional and public duties. Mr Weeks
claims that the social worker's ability to instil positive models of
sexuality and self respect in young people was compromised.
"Our judgment was that the extent of the misconduct was so flagrant as
to make it impossible to have confidence in her ability to act responsibly
in that role," he said.
But he refused to comment on whether similar action would have been
taken against an officer in a different council department and pointed to
the social worker's special responsibilities to the young people at
Shrewsbury's Rowans care home.
The council said it demanded the highest standards from staff and
claimed that captions on the social workers' pictures in Escort conveyed
indecency incompatible with her position.
Ms Maidment hit back by telling the tribunal that she was not involved
in publishing the pictures - they had been sent to the magazine without
her knowledge and her signature was forged on a consent form, she claimed.
Under questioning from Shropshire's counsel, however, she acknowledged
that other pictures of her had appeared in magazines similar to Escort.
Clive Howard, an employment specialist with legal firm Russell Jones
and Walker, said: "The law is pretty vague on areas like this. We're
talking about behaviour that takes place away from the workplace and
theoretically has no impact on her ability do her job. I think this
judgment's crazy."
Ms Maidment's case is not unique. Conflicting personal and professional
lives can be a problem for anyone with unsupervised access to children.
Several teachers, for example, have found themselves sacked for growing
cannabis. Commenting on employment tribunals Mr Howard said: "We hope and
assume that they will move more in line with proper social thinking."
One possible means of making it easier for care staff to be aware
before they step over the line between private and personal might be more
formalised codes of conduct. At present, many councils already have their
own codes, but they are not always consistent. The Association of
Directors of Social Services (ADSS) wants to see a single, national code
in place.
A code could prove useful for social workers around the country. As
ADSS vice-president Mike Leadbetter said: "It's about drawing a line
between what's acceptable in private life and what isn't."
