British Columbia’s highest court has dismissed the appeal of former University of B.C. graduate student Cynthia Maughan in her long running $18 million lawsuit against UBC and four faculty members.
In 2002 Maughan filed a civil action alleging she had been discriminated against on the basis of her Christian faith. The B.C. Supreme Court ruled in January 2008 that there was no evidence on which a reasonably instructed jury could find in favour of the student.
“We’re delighted the B.C. Court of Appeal has dismissed Maughan’s application,” said CAUT executive director James Turk. “This has been a long and difficult ordeal for the faculty named by Maughan.”
Legal representation throughout the process for the faculty respondents was provided by CAUT on behalf of the UBC Faculty Association.
In 2003 Maughan brought a human rights complaint against the four professors, UBC, the faculty association and CAUT.
In January 2006 the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal summarily dismisÂsed Maughan’s complaint. Two months later, she filed for a judicial review of the tribunal’s dismissal, but has not yet pursued that appeal.
At press time, CAUT learned Maughan will be seeking leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.