• News
    • Business
    • Canada
    • Health
    • International
    • Israel
  • Perspectives
    • Ask Ella
    • Ask The Love Rabbi
    • Features
    • Jewish Parenting Wisdom
    • Opinions
    • Ideas
    • Letters
    • Personal Essays
  • Food
  • Culture
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • The Arts
    • Books & Authors
    • Canada 150
    • Jewish Learning
    • June 1967
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Events
    • Contests
  • Supplements
    • Spotlights
  • Other Communities
    • En Français
    • Russian
  • Subscribe
  • Member Centre
  • Log Out
Search
  • Subscribe
  • Member Centre (eCJN)
  • Log Out
  • Newsletter
  • FaceBook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
CJN - Canada’s largest Jewish newspaper
April 20, 2018 - 5 Iyar 5778
CJN - Canada’s largest Jewish newspaper
  • News
    • Toronto public school responds to anti-Semitic incident

      ‘The world has lost a bright light’: Prominent chabad couple’s son dies at 15

      Crowdfunding campaign raises $3 million for Toronto day schools

      Holocaust museum postpones exhibit over concerns about Polish law

      Canadians to go to Israel for 50th anniversary of Grade 10 year spent abroad

      AllBusinessCanadaHealthInternationalIsrael
  • Perspectives
    • Israel & the Internet: Circa 1948 – April 19, 2018

      Tales from the fascist book club

      The 70 faces Of Israel

      Documenting Israel’s birth

      Liba Augenfeld – the survivor who brought her love of Yiddish with her

      AllAsk EllaAsk The Love RabbiFeaturesJewish Parenting WisdomOpinionsIdeasLettersPersonal Essays
  • Food
    • The Shabbat Table: A special post-Passover garlic shlissel challah

      Everyone gets gooey at downtown matzah bake

      Making matzah balls unites a modern Jewish family, says Phyllis Feldman

      The easy way out of Passover

      Bannock and matzah: our breads of affliction

      Taste of Pesach 2: A successful sequel to a delightful debut

  • Culture
    • Blending Caribbean sun and Jewish history in Curacao

      Novella splendidly blends math and literature

      Segal Centre features more Jewish content in 2018-19 season

      Popular Israeli podcast comes to the stage

      Mollie Jepsen – the Vancouver skier who won gold at the Paralympics

      AllArts & EntertainmentThe ArtsBooks & AuthorsCanada 150Jewish LearningJune 1967SportsTravel
  • Events
    • Chai Lifeline’s Restoring Hope contest (Closed)

      The CJN Prize (CLOSED)

      BRITISH YIDDISH AND KIDDUSH CONTEST (closed)

      The CJN Prize for Young Writers Contest (closed)

      JEWISH MUSIC WEEK 2016 (closed)

      AllContests
  • Supplements
    • Home Beautiful

      CJL Magazine

      Passover Greetings

      Passover Greetings

      MTL Celebrations

      AllSpotlights
  • Other Communities
    • Quel avenir pour les Juifs de France ?

      Israël dans la grande poudrière du Moyen-Orient

      Une entrevue avec Enrico Macias

      L’héritage de Shimon Peres: “Aucun rêve n’est impossible”

      L’intelligence artificielle au service de la robotique

      AllEn FrançaisRussian
  • Subscribe
  • Member Centre
  • Log Out
Home Perspectives Opinions The sad case of Lynden Dorval
  • Perspectives
  • Opinions

The sad case of Lynden Dorval

By
The CJN
-
June 12, 2012
379
0
SHARE
Facebook
Twitter

There’s no higher form of tzedakah than providing employment for others. Those who are under- or unemployed don’t only lose the ability to be self-supporting. Even more devastating is the emotional and social toll that’s likely to occur.

Firing someone is a step that must be undertaken with the utmost of gravity. This is especially true when dealing with long-term employees. It’s for this reason that long-term employees are (and if they aren’t, likely should be) given the option of resigning. Saving face can be a fine strategy when dealing with difficult situations.

In general, Jewish law accepts the notion that an employee does not have a right to “tenure,” yet that doesn’t mean they can be fired at will. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein went so far as to rule that a competent, but not spectacular, employee may not be dismissed in order to be replaced by a “superstar.”

As a teacher, an article in the June 2 edition of the National Post caught my attention. The Edmonton school board has suspended, and is set to fire, a physics teacher with 35 years of experience. His offence? Giving marks of zero for assignments not handed in, tests skipped or exams missed, contravening his school’s “no-zero policy.”

In days gone by, it was self-evident that not doing work resulted in a zero – a policy still adhered to in the “real world” – but in recent years, there has been a trend to disallow zeros. Students are encouraged to hand in work even if it’s months late, with few consequences. Giving zeros, it’s argued, just discourages students and turns them off school. If scientific evidence to this theory has been conducted, I have not seen it. In any event, in the case of Lynden Dorval, the teacher on the firing block, evidence exists to the contrary. His zeros motivated students to actually do the assigned work.

As is often the case, the merits of an argument are given little weight, and questions of policy, procedure and employee-employer relations become the central issue in such disputes. And if that’s the core issue, then it’s obvious the school board has little choice but to discipline him. This might be sad, but it’s legal.

While one must admire Dorval for acting with the courage of his convictions despite repeated warnings not to, a school board is well within its rights to dismiss a “defiant” employee.

An employee need not agree with company policy, but not unlike civil disobedience, one must understand that one must “suffer” the consequences of one’s actions. It’s sad that the net result in this case is likely one that does our students little good and may serve to foster the notion that if students don’t work, the teachers will pay the price.

Initiating change in almost any field of human activity isn’t easy. And ironically, it appears the more right the cause, the harder it is to initiate such change. Those at the forefront usually pay the highest price, paving the ways for others to reap the benefits of their efforts.

Send comments to rabbijay@torahinmotion.org.

 

SHARE
Facebook
Twitter
The CJN

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Blending Caribbean sun and Jewish history in Curacao

From the Archives: Yom ha-Atzmaut

Toronto public school responds to anti-Semitic incident

  • Popular
  • Recent
Subscribe to the CJNSubscribe
RSS FeedView
5,517FansLike
856FollowersFollow
10,095FollowersFollow
196SubscribersSubscribe
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe / Member Centre (eCJN)
  • eCJN Archives
  • Supplements
  • Media Kit
  • Advertising Terms
  • Premiums

One on One at Comicon with Leo Leibelman

Purim 2018 on Toronto's streets

Baba Fira's CJN Prize Awards invite

  • News
  • Canada
  • Israel
  • International
  • Opinions
  • The Arts
The award-winning Canadian Jewish News (CJN) is Canada’s largest, weekly Jewish newspaper with an audited circulation of nearly 32,000 and read by more than 100,000 people each week.
© Copyright 2018 Canadian Jewish News
  • Comments Policy
  • Community Links
  • Contact Us
  • Media Kit
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
  • Admin

Week in Review...

Comes Right to You

Sign up for our Weekly Newsletter

X