A mix of six former and current professors at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business have bolstered their charges of unfairness as they seek a judicial review of the process by which a university tribunal found they’d harassed colleagues and interfered with decisions on promotion and tenure.

Professors Chris Bart, George Steiner and Wayne Taylor were suspended from their jobs and banned from campus for three years after secret hearings in 2013 before a tribunal composed of faculty members. All three professors have since retired, and contend the penalty effectively ended their careers.

Professors Devashish Pujari, Joe Rose, and Sourav Ray received lesser penalties, but also claim damage. All six were condemned by the tribunal for contributing to a “poisoned” work environment, essentially created by fierce debates over the leadership of former DeGroote dean Paul Bates.
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In documents filed before the Ontario Divisional Court, the professors charge their punishments were so draconian and the tribunal’s process so “fatally flawed,” that its decision must be set aside.

“It’s absolutely imperative that natural justice and due process be respected. Closed door proceedings, by their nature, put these principles at risk. ‘Justice’ conducted with evidence and process hidden from view is no kind of justice at all and can lead to perverse outcomes,” said David Robinson, executive director of CAUT.

CAUT is funding the application for review at a time when many universities and colleges are hurriedly composing more and more administrative tribunals, and revising internal policies to deal with issues like harassment and discrimination.

The decision will shine a light not just on the process in question at McMaster, but also on the legality of other university-sanctioned quasi-judicial hearings.

“This is an important case because the process followed by the university tribunal wouldn’t be tolerated in any legal proceeding in the country. It’s a case which should concern all academic staff as universities and colleges rush to set up more tribu­nals,” Robinson said.

Don Carter, former chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board and former dean of law at Queen’s University, has filed an affidavit supporting the professors. Rather than the three-year suspensions handed to Bart, Taylor and Steiner, Carter’s statement said their maximum penalty should not have been more than three-month suspensions.

The applicants seek a court order quashing the tribunal’s decision, restoring them to the workplace, and for reimbursement of legal fees and back pay.

McMaster must file its response by June 1.

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Related
CAUT criticizes secret tribunal process at McMaster University, CAUT Bulletin, October 2013