Tuesday 24 May 2022 08:31 AM Staff sing 'It's Raining Men' at illegal Christmas bash days before teacher's ... trends now
Dancing around the sports hall dressed as a half-naked Santa and belting out It's Raining Men, this is the lockdown-busting Christmas Party at a school just days before a teacher died after catching Covid-19 at work.
Burnley College is the first education employer in Britain to be found guilty of breaching health and safety laws during the pandemic following the death of Donna Coleman, 42.
She died in January last year after catching coronavirus on December 14 2020 while working at the Lancashire FE college, whose staff were encouraged not to report their 'close contacts' if they caught the killer virus.
On December 18, just four days after Donna tested positive - along with at least one other colleague - a boozy and illegal Christmas party was thrown 'for all staff' when there was a strict ban on gatherings. It was on the same day as an infamous Downing Street bash where dozens of No 10 staff downed wine and scoffed cheese while swapping gifts.
Footage of the Burnley College party later emerged showing a staff member wearing a Santa jacket and elf's tights doing a painful karaoke rendition of 'It's Raining Men' in front of an assembled cheering crowd of teachers and staff who sang along. A fireworks display on the sports pitches followed, but it is not clear if people there were fined by police.
Donna was already ill in bed at home having caught Covid while working in an office with two other staff with no social distancing and inadequate ventilation - even after one of tested positive.
She also had to bring in her own masks and hand sanitiser and confided in her sister before she fell ill: 'I'm frightened for my job, I can't afford not to be in. There's 15 of us in our staff room, and there's no social distancing going on.'
Donna's sister Stephanie, 39, said it was 'heartbreaking' to watch the video taken as her sister was ill. She said: 'Seeing people partying when we are now having to grieve on the first-anniversary of not having Donna with us, when it all could have been avoided is just heart-breaking. It's disgraceful.'
One Burnley College worker was dressed in a Santa jacket and festive tights as he performed 'It's Raining Men' by The Weather Girls at an illegal Christmas party when several colleagues had tested positive. Revellers at the lockdown-busting bash cheered, sang and filmed the performance (right)
Donna Coleman, 42, did not attend the parties but had previously raised concerns about Burnley college's allegedly lax approach to Covid rules, who have now been found to have breach health and safety rules by the Health and Safety Executive
Burnley College was found to have failed to ensure staff safety during the pandemic, the first education sector employer to have done so
Following her death on January 6 2021, an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the college failed to ensure staff and student safety during the outbreak of the virus.
The HSE investigation found that staff were even encouraged not to report their 'close contacts' if they caught Covid-19, when Burnley had one of the highest rates of Covid in the UK. And if there was a positive case, staff and students were still not notified if they were defined as a 'contact'.
The University and College Union, which supported Donna's family in bringing the case, said the school had 'endangered the lives of staff and students'.
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