CAUT has advised Dalhousie University president Tom Traves that it will consider censure of the university if the administration does not fulfill its responsibility to try to protect two faculty members caught up in drawn-out disciplinary procedures by Dalhousie’s affiliated teaching hospital, the Capital District Health Authority.

In a Nov. 22 letter, CAUT warned its executive would be bringing forward a motion of censure if the university does not push for quick resolutions to Capital Health procedures that have undermined the careers of medical professors Gabrielle Horne and Michael Goodyear for more than three years.

The letter, sent by CAUT president Loretta Czernis said: “Not only has Dalhousie been remiss in failing to assist professors Horne and Goodyear during their subjugation to an unacceptably slow and unfair process at Capital Health, but Dalhousie officials, both through their silence and actions, have indirectly and directly harmed the careers of both faculty members.”

Czernis called on Dalhousie to press “actively, persistently and publicly to ensure that procedural fairness and natural justice be provided to professors Horne and Goodyear immediately and that the process be brought to a rapid and fair conclusion.”

She also said the university must take “timely action to mitigate the damage to professor Horne’s and professor Goodyear’s academic careers and livelihoods until the flawed processes of Capital Health are brought to conclusion, and professors Horne’s and Goodyear’s situations are finally resolved in a fair and just manner.”

CAUT executive director James Turk said he first brought this situation to the university’s attention in February 2003 “after Capital Health failed to meet its own deadline for dealing with such cases.”

He also said the university, the Capital District Health Authority and Dr. Horne reached a settlement in June 2003 that would have returned her to full duties, but that the authority’s board refused to implement it.

“Since that time, professors Horne and Goodyear have been facing a procedural nightmare,” Turk said. “We believe the university has to fulfill its responsibility to do everything in its power to help ensure its faculty members’ scholarly reputations are not damaged by spurious allegations or unfair procedures.”