Category Archives: Legal issues

Chan v UBC (BC Human Rights Tribunal)

Chan v. University of British Columbia and Haverkamp and Farrar and Shapiro and Tierney (No. 2), 2012 BCHRT 12

INTRODUCTION
[1] Jennifer Chan filed a complaint alleging that Beth Haverkamp, David Farrar, Jon Shapiro, Robert Tierney and the University of British Columbia (collectively the “Respondents”) discriminated against her with respect to the appointment of the David Lam Chair in Multicultural Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia (the “Lam Chair”) on the basis of race, colour, ancestry, and place of origin, contrary to s. 13 of the Human Rights Code. The Respondents deny there has been any such discrimination and apply to dismiss the complaint pursuant to ss. 27(1)(b), (c),(d)(ii) and (f), which provide:
(1) A member or panel may, at any time after a complaint is filed and with or without a hearing, dismiss all or part of the complaint if that member or panel determines that any of the  following apply:
(b) the acts or omissions alleged in the complaint…do not contravene this Code;
(c) there is no reasonable prospect that the complaint will succeed;
(d) proceeding with the complaint or that part of the complaint would not:

(ii) further the purposes of this Code.
(f) the substance of the complaint … has been appropriately dealt with in another proceeding.
[2] The Respondents, in the alternative, apply to dismiss the complaint against the individual respondents.

Excerpts of the decision:

[50] Further, it strikes me that it would be fundamentally unfair to allow UBC’s application on this ground. A faculty member may rely on the Policy in determining the preferred route for redress. To allow UBC to set out an appeal process in its Policy and then deny it through an application to dismiss, on this basis, essentially pulls the rug out from under that faculty member.

[51] I decline to dismiss Dr. Chan’s complaint as appropriately dealt with under the Policy.

 

[72] The issues raised in this complaint are of significance to the UBC community as a whole. I am alive to the difficulties expressed in Lee in identifying racism and related offensive behaviour. I am also alive to the low hurdle which the complainant needs to overcome on a s. 27(1)(c) application. In the circumstances of this case, I am of the view that, only after a full hearing, is it possible to determine whether the Committee’s process was tainted by prohibited motivations. Ultimately all Tribunal decisions under s. 27(1)(c) of the Code are discretionary decisions. I am not persuaded that there is no reasonable prospect that the individual complaint will succeed.

 

[77] Rather, the complaint appears to cast the Committee’s process and resultant decision as being the product of subtle racial bias and stereotyping, including the failure to apply employment equity principles. Whether or not UBC was bound by its Employment Equity Plan to apply such principles as contended by Dr. Chan will not be dispositive of the issues in this complaint – they are cast far broader than that. While I recognise that s. 27 of the Code contemplates that a part of a complaint may be dismissed on application, I also recognise that a failure to apply employment equity may be rooted in racial bias.

 

[79] If the evidence supports that the Committee was influenced by improper considerations as alleged (but which the Respondents clearly deny) the selection would constitute a violation of the Code. On the material before me, a hearing will be required to ascertain whether discrimination has occurred. I am not prepared to dismiss the complaint on the basis that the acts alleged do not contravene the Code.

 

IX CONCLUSION

[90] As stated above, I decline to dismiss Dr. Chan’s personal complaint against UBC. The systemic complaint is dismissed. I also dismiss the complaints against Dr. Haverkamp, Dr. Farrar, Dr. Shapiro and Dr. Tierney.

Petition: Ginsberg v North Carolina State University

At North Carolina State University (NCSU), shortly after Dr. Terri Ginsberg made supportive political comments at a screening of a Palestinian film in 2007, she went from being the favored candidate for a tenure-track position to being denied even an interview.  Her efforts at redress were summarily rejected by NCSU and two courts.  A jury should be permitted to decide whether NCSU’s real reason for firing Dr. Ginsberg was its hostility to her political views, but this legal right has been denied.  We urge the Supreme Court of North Carolina to review Dr. Ginsberg’s case and to reverse the lower courts’ decisions to dismiss it.  On this basis, faculty at NCSU and elsewhere may finally exercise their legal right to academic speech on the topic of Palestine/Israel and, as such, to their full human rights as scholars, teachers, and intellectuals in the academic community.

To support this request to the NC Supreme Court, we invite academic faculty and students worldwide to sign our Open Letter as an e-petition at this URL:

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/open-letter-to-nc-supreme-court-ginsberg-vs-ncsu.html

We expect to submit the Open Letter with all signatures received by February 7, though signatures received later would still be helpful.

You are also encouraged to send your own letter to:

Supreme Court of North Carolina

Clerk’s Office

P.O. Box 2170

Raleigh, NC 27602-2170  USA

 

British Committee for the Universities of Palestine (BRICUP) http://www.bricup.org.uk/

U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) http://www.usacbi.org

Center for Constitutional Rights http://ccrjustice.org

Jewish Voice for Peace-Westchester http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jewish-Voice-for-Peace-Westchester-Chapter/201574026528540?v=info

WESPAC Foundation http://wespac.org/

Committee for Open Discussion of Zionism (CODZ) http://www.codz.org

U.S. Appeals Court to Weigh the Speech Rights of Public-College Faculty Members

The Chronicle: U.S. Appeals Court to Weigh the Speech Rights of Public-College Faculty Members

In a case emerging as a major test of the free-speech rights of faculty members at public colleges, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is being asked to decide whether Northeastern Illinois University could legally punish a professor who advised student activists by deeming her own statements of protest to be job-related.

The dispute involves a lawsuit filed against the university by Loretta Capeheart, a tenured associate professor of justice studies who has advised the university’s student Socialist Club and was denied promotions and a faculty award after clashing with administrators over her protest activities. The American Association of University Professors is concerned enough about the potential ramifications of a ruling against Ms. Capeheart that on Thursday it filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the appeals court to hold her speech to have been protected under the First Amendment.

English Professor at UMass-Dartmouth Wins Discrimination Case

Boston Globe: UMass gets $364,000 penalty in bias case

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth has been fined $10,000 and ordered to pay one of its English professors $154,000 in lost wages and $200,000 in damages for emotional distress as part of a decision issued by the state’s antidiscrimination agency.

According to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, its June 1 decision in favor of LuLu Sun, associate professor of English, also includes the “unprecedented step’’ of ordering the university to promote Sun to full professor. Sun’s complaint to MCAD alleged discrimination based on her gender, race, and Chinese ancestry.

4 Former Professors Sue Bethune-Cookman U. Over Their Dismissal

Orlando Sentinel: 4 Former Professors Sue Bethune-Cookman U. Over Their Dismissal

Four former professors are suing Bethune-Cookman University, claiming they were fired because they confronted the college president about a host of problems on campus, including embezzlement.

They say university president Trudie Kibbe Reed didn’t want them to embarrass her or undermine her authority so she began a course of retaliation that ended with their dismissal.

Reed, however, said the lawsuit is an effort to divert attention away from the real reason the men were let go in 2009 — allegations of sexual misconduct with students.

Labor Board Rejects Religious Exemption for Saint Xavier U. and Says Adjuncts Can Unionize

The Chronicle: Labor Board Rejects Religious Exemption for Saint Xavier U. and Says Adjuncts Can Unionize

A regional official of the National Labor Relations Board has ruled that Saint Xavier University, a Roman Catholic institution in Illinois, is not sufficiently religious to fall outside that agency’s jurisdiction, and has cleared the way for the institution’s roughly 240 adjunct faculty members to hold a unionization vote.

UBC education prof files complaint of racial discrimination

The Georgia Straight: UBC education prof files complaint of racial discrimination

An associate professor of education at UBC believes that the university discriminated against her because of her race.

Jennifer Chan, a Canadian of Chinese descent, claims that the denial of her application for the prestigious David Lam Chair in Multicultural Education in the faculty of education forms part of a pattern of discrimination against her.

“There was systemic racism all throughout my career,” Chan told the Straight in a phone interview today

Professor files complaint against UBC for ‘racial bias’

Globe and Mail: Professor files complaint against UBC for ‘racial bias’

An associate professor at the University of British Columbia has accused the institution of “racial bias” because she was denied a promotion and her complaint about unfair treatment was later rejected by an internal review.

Jennifer Chan, an associate professor in the department of educational studies, said in a statement released Tuesday that she has now filed a complaint with the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal.

Ward Churchill loses appeal of his firing

Denver Post: Ward Churchill loses appeal of his firing

The Colorado Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court decision denying University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill’s effort to get his job back.

The court ruled that Denver District Judge Larry Naves was right to direct a verdict in favor of the university and to find that the university was entitled to “quasi-judicial immunity.”

Nova Southeastern U. Contractor Is Ordered to Rehire Janitors Fired Over Union Activities

Miami Herald: Fired NSU janitors must be rehired, federal agency says

Three Nova Southeastern University janitors will get their jobs back after a federal panel ruled they were illegally targeted.

Three former Nova Southeastern University janitors who lost their jobs during a unionizing drive at the school in 2007 must be reinstated to their old posts, a federal labor agency has ruled — and each will also receive tens of thousands of dollars in back pay.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/04/1807712/fired-nsu-janitors-must-be-rehired.html#ixzz0yyv7ohlv

Aide says convicted U of Louisville dean had money funneled to Illinois center

Courier-Journal: Aide says Felner had money funneled to Illinois center

The executive assistant to former University of Louisville education dean Robert Felner testified Monday that Felner stood over her shoulder and dictated information for her to type on invoices meant to funnel money from the university to an Illinois center set up by a longtime associate.

Becki Newton told a U.S. District Court jury that she recalled seeing the associate, Thomas Schroeder of Port Byron, Ill., at U of L’s College of Education and Human Development several times a year.

Former University of Louisville dean Robert Felner sentenced to more than five years in prison

The Chronicle: Former U. of Louisville Dean Is Sentenced to More Than 5 Years

Robert D. Felner, the former dean of the University of Louisville’s College of Education and Human Development, was sentenced on Monday to five and a quarter years in federal prison.

Mr. Felner was indicted in October 2008 on charges that he and a confederate had misappropriated more than $2.3-million from a federal research grant and from contracts with three urban school districts.

The indictment prompted a long round of soul-searching at Louisville. Some faculty members say that the university could have detected Mr. Felner’s wrongdoing earlier if administrators had paid attention to faculty and student complaints about his conduct. Others have suggested that the university did a weak job of checking Mr. Felner’s background when he was hired in 2003.

Courier-Journal: Former University of Louisville dean Robert Felner sentenced to more than five years in prison

Robert Felner, former University of Louisville dean of education, was sentenced on Monday to 63 months in prison for his role in defrauding U of L and the University of Rhode Island of $2.3 million.

Felner — who was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Charles R. Simpson III in Louisville — pleaded guilty in January to nine federal charges, including income tax evasion.

In addition to prison time, Felner must pay restitution of $510,000 to U of L, $1.64 million to the University of Rhode Island and $88,750 to the Rock Island County Council on Addiction in Illinois.

The plea agreement was reached with the U.S. attorney’s office after Felner was indicted in October 2008 in Louisville on charges of mail fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, income tax evasion and conspiracy to impede and impair the Internal Revenue Service. The charges against Felner carried a maximum penalty of 75 years in prison.

Former UofL dean sentenced to 63 months in prison for tax evasion, embezzling

WHAS: Former UofL dean sentenced to 63 months in prison for tax evasion, embezzling

Louisville, Ky. (WHAS11) – The former University of Louisville dean of the College of Education has been sentenced to over five years in prison.

Robert Felner pled guilty to federal charges including tax evasion and embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the university.

He was sentenced to 63 months in prison and will have to pay back $2,245,000 in restitution.

He will have to pay money back to UofL, the University of Rhode Island and Rock Island Council of Addiction.

After he serves his sentence he will serve three years on probation.

Former University of Louisville dean Robert Felner set to be sentenced Monday

Courier-Journal: Former University of Louisville dean Robert Felner set to be sentenced Monday

Robert Felner, former University of Louisville dean of education, is expected to be sentenced on Monday, almost two years after federal and local law enforcement authorities raided his college as part of a wide-ranging fraud investigation that involved two universities and multiple states.

Felner pleaded guilty in January to nine federal charges, including income tax evasion, and agreed to serve 63 months in prison in connection with defrauding UofL and the University of Rhode Island of $2.3million.

As part of the plea agreement, Felner agreed to pay restitution of $510,000 to UofL, $1.64million to the University of Rhode Island and $88,750 to the Rock Island County Council on Addiction in Illinois. Additionally, he agreed to forfeit property to the federal government that he owns in Florida and Illinois, as well as bank accounts containing undisclosed amounts.

Lawyer threatens suit over canceled Ayers speech

AP: Lawyer threatens suit over canceled Ayers speech

LARAMIE, Wyo. — A Denver lawyer says he’ll sue the University of Wyoming unless it lets former 1960s radical William Ayers speak on campus.
David Lane sent the school a letter Monday saying he had been retained by student Meg Lanker. He contends the university violated the First Amendment when it canceled a speech Ayers was scheduled to give in March.
He gave the university until noon Wednesday to respond.

Student Punished for Facebook Group Starts $10-Million Lawsuit

The Chronicle: Student Punished for Facebook Group Starts $10-Million Lawsuit

A Ryerson University engineering student punished for his Facebook study group has started a $10-million class-action lawsuit against the Toronto institution.

Chris Avenir faced 147 charges of academic misconduct two years ago for his Facebook group, which let engineering students “discuss/post solutions” to homework problems. The course stipulated that students had to conduct independent work. Mr. Avenir faced expulsion, but a faculty committee ruled he should instead receive a zero for one assignment and a disciplinary note in his file.

Court Denies Conservative Pundit-Professor’s Bias Claim Against University

The Chronicle: Court Denies Conservative Pundit-Professor’s Bias Claim Against University

A federal court has rejected a claim that the University of North Carolina at Wilmington committed viewpoint discrimination against Michael S. Adams, a prominent conservative commentator and associate professor of criminology, by denying him a promotion based partly on its review of online columns and other expressions of opinion that he included in his application to move up the ranks.

Virginia’s public colleges and universities may be able to ban anti-gay discrimination after all

Inside Higher Ed: Reversal on Anti-Gay Bias

Virginia’s public colleges and universities may be able to ban anti-gay discrimination after all.

Days after the state’s attorney general told the institutions that they couldn’t ban discrimination against gay people, the governor said they could. Gov. Robert F. McDonnell’s announcement came amid growing student protests about the attorney general’s policy and strong statements by some college officials that suggested they would ignore the attorney general. Both McDonnell and the attorney general, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, are Republicans.

Jury Finds Iowa State Professor Filed False Bias Complaints in Pursuit of Tenure

The Chronicle: Jury Finds Iowa State Professor Filed False Bias Complaints in Pursuit of Tenure

In a case that sheds light on how bitter personal feuds can drive the actions of faculty members, a jury has ruled that an associate professor of sociology at Iowa State University brought false charges of gender discrimination against two colleagues he had viewed as obstacles to his gaining tenure.

Professor Sues Stillman College Over Dismissal for ‘Malicious Gossip’

Tuscaloosa News: Ex-Stillman professor sues over dismissal

TUSCALOOSA | A former Stillman College professor has sued the college over his termination two years ago, seeking back pay, punitive damages and his old job.

Ekow Hayford, who taught business at Stillman, filed the civil suit Feb. 15 in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court.

‘The climate may make it difficult for him to return. He’s mainly seeking back pay, but if the court sees fit to reinstate him, he’ll take the job back,’ said Stephen Wallace, Hayford’s attorney.