A Serbian teacher has been paid legal costs in the region of $22,000 after a long-running dispute with Government.

As previously reported, Dragana Damljanovic, a social studies teacher, moved to the Island in February 2009 and started work at Sandys Secondary School.

She filed an official grievance with Education Commissioner Wendy McDonell in April 2009, claiming she was harassed by staff members and discriminated against by the principal. She alleged in an interview with this newspaper in September that Mrs. McDonell wrongly accused her of racism and treating the children harshly.

Ms Damljanovic was suspended on full pay and later dismissed, but she challenged that decision and won a Supreme Court order plus costs in her favour and was reassigned to T.N Tatem Middle School in Warwick in November 2009. However, she left after learning her position was as a substitute teacher, saying the position was a demotion.

The Commissioner of Education informed her that her absence from work meant that, under her terms and conditions of service, she had resigned from her job. The Immigration department also began proceedings to deport her.

However, Ms Damljanovic successfully challenged the deportation proceedings after being arrested and spending one and a half days in jail in September. Chief Justice Richard Ground quashed the deportation order because it misstated the grounds on which it alleged she was liable to deportation, and awarded costs in her favour.

A subsequent hearing was held at Supreme Court earlier this month, when Mr. Justice Ground ruled how much money was owed to the teacher in legal costs. The matter was held in his chambers, rather than in public, and he declined to release information on the outcome to this newspaper.

However, asked what costs had been paid out by Government, Attorney General Kim Wilson stated last week: "The court did award costs which were taxed in the sum of approximately $22,000."

She explained that taxing costs is a process where a bill is submitted and the courts go through it item by item to ensure the fees are appropriate to the work completed.

Ms Damljanovic's lawyer Taaj Jamal indicated in September that she would be willing to leave the Island voluntarily once her legal issues were settled. He could not be reached for comment last week, and it is unclear whether she has left.

Deputy Governor David Arkley stated last Thursday that no deportation order had been issued at that point. Chief Immigration Officer Rozy Azhar said: "While we do not speak to individual cases, our normal procedure is to contact the person in question and agree a date that he or she will settle his or her affairs and leave the Island. Should the person refuse to leave by the date as instructed, we would have no choice but to obtain a deportation order."