The University of Victoria (UVIC) has fired one of its oldest teachers after complaints, sexually harassed two women, including a graduate student.
In his 45 years in Uvic, Robert Gifford was a pioneer in the flourishing field of environmental psychology, attracting students from all over the world to study topics such as the anxiety of climate change and interaction between human beings and their surroundings.
But according to a couple of recent decisions of the Board of Labor Relations (LRB), the 78 -year -old man was fired last summer after an investigation found “repeated damage to junior academics” and a “lack of responsibility and understanding of [his] Obligations such as Senior scholar. “
LRB documents detail an investigation into “worrying behaviors”, citing an email that Gifford sent to a woman who first met when she was a “visiting student”, which suggests that they share a hotel room while presenting a document at a conference in 2018.
“This agreement may require a bit of attention in terms of other people we know in the [conference]But that can be handled, “Gifford wrote.” And, of course, everything that is beyond the mere sharing of the room will be decided in a completely mutual way, at that time. How does that sound? “
‘I made a clear mistake’
In response, the woman, known as AB, told Gifford that she wanted to remain “strictly professional.”
Member of the Royal Society of Canada, Gifford was a member of the Faculty of the University of Victoria since July 1979 until he was fired in June 2024.
Gifford told CBC on Wednesday that he has been “devastated” by the shot.
He said he made an error when sending email about the hotel in 2018 after what he called “misunderstanding” of a conversation with AB, but said he apologized at that time and was surprised to see his words used against him years later.
He said that the other incident, which occurred in 2021, involved a graduate student who had recently returned to the university’s land after Covid restrictions.
“And with that student, I made a clear mistake, which was to say: ‘They attract me for you,'” he said.
“That was a mistake because she was a student and, probably, she shouldn’t have done that.”
Gifford said he was suspended after the 2021 incident, but finally allowed him to return to teaching until December 2023, when he was told that he was being investigated in relation to the email of the 2018 hotel.
“Then, what I would like to emphasize is that if the 2018 incident had emerged in 2018, I would never have told the student two years later, ‘I am attracting’ because I would have learned my lesson,” he said.
‘Mixed chances of success in arbitration’
Although Gifford was fired last summer, the news of his termination was not made public until the process of the Labor Board, which the former teacher began challenging the decision of his association of faculty not to pursue a complaint for his dismissal towards the arbitration.
According to the decision of the Labor Relations Board, the Gifford union said that the University did not provide “progressive discipline” and did not properly investigate the accusations against the teacher, which the faculty association said they were not “fair causes” to shoot.
The University rejected the offer of the union to cancel Gifford’s termination, and last August, the Faculty Association denied its request to bring the complaint to arbitration after obtaining a legal opinion, which a union representative described Gifford in an email.
“His analysis of the case was that there were mixed possibilities of success in arbitration, and that reasonable arguments could be presented for and against our case,” reads email, which is cited in the LRB decision.
“A concern they raised was their potential effectiveness as a witness, which would require constantly demonstrating an understanding of the dynamics of power at stake in this and the previous case, and by assuming the full responsibility of both events.”
‘It is not a step that we take light’
In his first decision on the case last May, the Vice President of Labor Relations, Rene-John Nicolas, rejected Gifford’s statement, the Faculty Association had made an arbitrary decision not to pursue his case.
In his ruling, Nicolas also said that university research was not defective.
“I think the researcher finally reached his findings based on the indisputable emails between (Gifford) to AB,” Nicolas wrote.
“Those emails showed that the applicant invited a Junior colleague to share a hotel room with him and also invited that Junior colleague to participate in sexual relations with him, to which the colleague Junior said not because he only wanted a professional relationship with the applicant.”
Last week, the Board published a second decision, rejecting Gifford’s request for the reconsideration of the previous ruling.
Gifford told CBC that he is considering submitting a request for judicial review in the BC Supreme Court, but the cost can be prohibitive.
In a statement, the university did not comment on the accusations, citing the privacy legislation, but said that “finishing employment is not a step that we take light and, when it happens, it is indicative of the serious nature of the concerns raised.
“What we can share is that UVIC undertakes to provide an inclusive and respectful environment to work, learn and teach,” said the university.
“If there is a behavior by a UVIC employee that is contrary to the policies and collective agreements of UVIC, we want people to present so that circumstances can be addressed.”
