The Ministry of Education could have avoided a costly legal battle with CedarBridge teacher Ulama Finn-Hendrickson if it had simply replied to letters from her lawyer, a judge has concluded.

Puisne Judge Ian Kawaley said on Friday that Government's failure to write to the Jamaican teacher and reassure her that the school was safe after a cleanup of mould and warn her that her absence was unauthorised left it without a credible case.

Martin Johnson, the lawyer acting for the Crown, argued during a judicial review at Supreme Court that Mrs. Finn-Hendrickson, who believed a mould infestation at the school had made her seriously ill, effectively resigned by not showing up for work at CedarBridge after the $4 million clean up.

But describing the facts of the case as "highly unusual", Mr. Justice Kawaley said in his written judgement it was "obvious that no resignation occurred".

"Resignation does not occur simply by proof of absence: the absentee must first be given an opportunity to prove that there is no 'reasonable excuse' for his absence," he said.

He pointed out that Mrs. Finn-Hendrickson advised in legal letters why she was not at work and never refused to go to an alternative school.

"It is clear that on or before January 31, 2007, a decision was taken to discipline the applicant by stopping her pay as a punishment for being absent from work without any reasonable excuse," he said, adding that she was given no prior notice.

The judge said Government breached public law by ignoring the lawyer's letters seeking confirmation that her workplace was safe and by treating her absence as deliberate misconduct.

And he said it exhibited "unusual conduct" by failing to explain why her pay was stopped until three months after she started court proceedings in February last year.

But he said there was no evidence that the failure to respond to the letters reflected any systemic weakness on the Ministry's part.