The assessment, which was inserted into the curriculum by the Head of Department of Classics, kick-started a flow of complaints. These related to both Maday's teaching and complaints about the timing of the research assessment itself.
Crichton said Maday was "absolutely blameless" in determining the timing of the research assessment, yet it proved causative of the complaints and her eventual dismissal.
Prior to the dismissal Maday had been employed at the school for more than a decade.
Around a month after the initial complaint was made against Maday and the assessment, a series of complaints were actioned upon and a meeting was arranged between her, and Avondale's Industrial Relations Advisor Mr Paul Pa'u.
Prior to this Maday had proposed to meet with the complainant - but the school refused to provide her with the student's name.
The school also did not make Maday aware of further complaints lodged by students from the same class.
Crichton took issue with this, claiming it meant Maday could not adequately respond.
In June that year, Maday raised a personal grievance against the school based on her opinion she was being unfairly treated.
Shortly after, the school's Board of Trustees made the decision to launch an "informal competency assessment". This would be driven by Maday's assessor, Mrs Watkinson.
After several disagreements between Watkinson and Maday, a formal competency process was launched in September that year. This spanned into the following school year.
On May 28 2014 Avondale's principal Brent Lewis provided a report to the school's Board of Trustees, indicating Maday had failed to remedy concerns about her performance.
Maday was fired the following month.
A little over two months later, near the end of 2014, Maday raised a personal grievance for unjustified dismissal.
The teacher maintained she was never clearly told what to do to meet the requisite standard and said she did not have adequate opportunity to resolve the issues.
Crichton said the authority was satisfied Maday had proved her claim - both to have suffered disadvantage as a consequence of the unjustified actions of Avondale Board of Trustees and that she was unjustifiably dismissed.
Crichton said he was "especially critical" of the school's willingness to proceed with students' complaints without any investigation.
Maday was awarded $25,000 in compensation for both of her grievances.
She furthermore sought wages lost as a consequence of the dismissal - together with interest on that amount.
While Maday was successful in seeking the wages lost due to her loss of job, the teacher lost her battle to be reinstated in her position at Avondale.
Rebecca White, a lawyer with Fortune Manning who was acting for Maday, said she had faced difficulty in finding new employment since the dismissal, despite being cleared to teach by the Education Council.
"It's been a long road to get to this point, and Catriona certainly has a sense of vindication, but also disappointment that things could not be resolved at an earlier stage," White said.
Crichton agreed with the school's remark that Maday's relationship with the college had "irretrievably broken down" following her conduct throughout the ordeal, which involved personal digs at the principal.
She could not expect to return to the staff team, he said, after indulging in "what amounted to personal name calling".
Avondale College's Board of Trustees said it was disappointed with the outcome.
"The issue has always been about student voice and the rights of students to be heard, listened to and respected, as well as their right to quality teaching in a safe environment," a statement read.
The Board had sought legal advice and was considering whether it would appeal the decision.
