A Bristol woman who lost her job after the secondary school she worked in became an academy has lost a claim for unfair dismissal against the charity which now runs it.

Liz Rowbotham was head of extended services at Hengrove Community Arts College for seven years until it shut at the end of August 2008, on a salary of £47,000 a year.

Ms Rowbotham took the new academy's sponsor – Oasis Community Learning – to an employment tribunal, claiming unfair dismissal.

The tribunal heard that she resigned the day after the Christian charity reopened the school, and considered that she had been dismissed.

But in its ruling the tribunal said that the 57-year-old, of Winscombe, North Somerset, had been made redundant but that the dismissal was fair.

At a hearing in Temple Back yesterday, a financial settlement between Ms Rowbotham and Oasis Community Learning was agreed, details of which were not disclosed for legal reasons.

Ms Rowbotham told a four-day hearing last month that losing the £47,000-a-year job would cost her nearly £300,000 in salary and pension entitlements.

Her job at the old school involved running out-of-school services, including clubs for children before and after school, and in the holidays.

Ms Rowbotham was part of the senior leadership team and her job involved line-managing up to 20 staff.

The alternative role she was offered by Oasis was as part of an extended leadership team and did not have line-management responsibilities.

The drop in status concerned Ms Rowbotham. The tribunal found that the new role offered to her had only 10 to 15 per cent of her old duties.

The tribunal heard claims that Ms Rowbotham was "consistently treated unfairly and unreasonably" and marginalised during the transfer of staff from the city council's employment to that of the charity.

Claims she was dismissed on age, sex and disability grounds were withdrawn during last month's hearing.

Lawyers for Oasis had told the tribunal Ms Rowbotham should not have considered herself dismissed because there had not been a substantial change to her job that was to her detriment. They said the new role she was offered had status between the levels of deputy and assistant principal, but she was unhappy with it.

In a statement delivering its judgment the dismissal was fair, the tribunal said: "In view of our findings we anticipate remedy will be restricted to any redundancy money due."

Ms Rowbotham attended yesterday's remedy hearing accompanied by her son, Olympic bronze medal-winning rower Stephen Rowbotham. She said: "I've settled. I'm relieved it's over."

Colin Young, Oasis Community Learning's director of Human Resources, said: "The court ruling of fair dismissal demonstrates that we have carried out our duties correctly."