A settlement has been reached in the suit which Marjorie Richards, teacher at the Ocho Rios High School, St. Ann, had brought against the board of management of the school.

Richards was informed by the chairman of the school board in October last year that she had abandoned her job.

After Richards filed the suit in the Supreme Court seeking an order for her reinstatement, the court had granted an order for her to return to work until the matter was heard.

The matter was set for hearing on September 26 but attorney-at-law Barrington Frankson, who represented Richards, and lawyers from the Attorney-General's Department, had discussions and arrived at a settlement. Arising from the settlement, Richards will remain on the job and will be compensated for the period she was off the job.

Richards contended in the suit that she applied for special leave in May last year after her house was broken into and her 88-year-old mother severely beaten by robbers.Richards said she took leave to take her mother overseas for medical treatment.

She said principal Monica McIntyre and the school board were aware of the situation and she kept in touch with the school while she was abroad. She was overseas on special leave from May to October last year.