Nicholas Dwyer, the founding principal of Haileybury International School in Tianjin, China. Credit:Mathias Magg The teachers, Trudy Thomson and Andrew Settle, have filed a statement of claim in the County Court seeking damages for their treatment. Their allegations include claims of assault, as well as deception of a VCE auditor at the orders of a superior. While Haileybury has four campuses in Melbourne, the legal battle is focused on its fifth: the Haileybury International School in Tianjin, near Beijing, in China. Opened in 2013, the Tianjin campus has the capacity for 1200 students. While the school teaches VCE and takes Melbourne students on exchange, the main customer base is Chinese locals, not ex-pats. The fees are even pricier than Melbourne -- nearly $37,000 in 2016 for senior students, compared with about $28,000 in Australia. The Haileybury International School's founding principal, John Dwyer, told Fairfax Media last year that this revenue helped keep fees down for hometown students.

The website for Haileybury's Chinese campus. There were perks for teachers as well. A Haileybury flyer promoting the school to prospective staff claimed teachers who took a job in China could look forward to a "competitive" salary, flights to nearby Beijing and free accommodation close to the school. Importantly, and this is still up for dispute in court, the teachers were told they were would be working for Haileybury. All of these perks may have been discussed when Ms Thomson, 59, and Mr Settle, 60, met Dr Dwyer at an education job fair at the Langham Hotel in January last year. Whatever was put on the table, within a fortnight the pair had accepted a job to work at Haileybury International School and signed a two-year employment contract.

According to documents lodged in court, Ms Thomson and Mr Settle resigned from previous jobs, sold their home and began working in Tianjin last August. However they only lasted six months before being fired in February this year. They say they only found out when checking emails at Sydney Airport when returning from Australia after Chinese New Year. Now, Ms Thomson and Mr Settle are suing Haileybury, its Chinese entity and Dr Dwyer for breaches of their contracts based on misleading and deceptive conduct. As part of their legal action, the pair claim they were "party to a deception" of a VCE auditor and that Mr Settle was bullied by the school's principal. In the alleged bullying incident, Mr Settle claims he was assaulted by the principal in his office. According to a record of harassment lodged in court, Mr Settle said he was made to feel "very uncomfortable and intimidated".

"His manner and body language was so aggressive that it crossed my mind he might throw a punch," Mr Settle alleged. The pair also allege that they were instructed not to tell a Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority auditor that VCE classes were being taught in Tianjin over three semesters instead of two. In response to their legal demands, Ms Thomson and Mr Settle claim to have been told they did not have employment contracts with Haileybury, just its Chinese entity. If the lawsuit succeeds their bill of damages and losses could add up to more than a million dollars. It includes more than $500,000 for unpaid salary, as well as $5000 for Ikea goods given away due to only being given 48 hours to vacate their Tianjin apartment.

Further damages include the loss of capital gain on the Bulleen house they sold for $956,000 in 2015 to move to China. It is estimated that house would now be worth at least $1.25 million. A Haileybury spokesperson said it would not be appropriate to comment directly while the matter was before the courts. "The matter will be defended and details of our response will be set out in our defence which will be delivered in accordance with the court timeframe," the spokesperson said. "Haileybury denies that it engaged in any misleading and deceptive conduct in its dealings with Ms Thomson and Mr Settle." In a defence filed in court in response to the writ, Haileybury and Dr Dwyer stated that Ms Thomson and Mr Settle were told during the interview that they would be working for a Chinese school.

Mr Settle's allegation of harassment by a principal was also rejected, according to the defence. At the time of the meeting where the alleged incident took place, the defence stated Mr Settle made no comments about the principal's demeanour or body language. "Shortly after this meeting, Mr Settle sent an email...saying that he was glad they had cleared the air," the court documents said. The defendants did admit that Ms Thomson and Mr Settle were told by email that their employment was terminated. But the defence added that this happened because there was a view that the pair were "not enjoying it", that they were "divisive" and that they were bad for morale among other staff.