A University of Cambridge “whistleblower” who raised concerns about bullying has won his case at an employment tribunal, with vice-chancellor Deborah Prentice among the senior leaders criticised over their handling of the matter.
The bulk of complaints raised by astrophysics professor Wyn Evans were upheld in a judgment released on 10 August.
The academic had claimed he was victimised after raising concerns about the treatment of female staff members within the university’s Institute of Astronomy (IOA).
His tribunal, held in Bury St Edmunds earlier this year, heard how the university had taken “almost two years” to dismiss a grievance later raised against Evans and two other professors by the former IOA director, Richard McMahon...
...It finds that leadership within the IOA and the university failed to consistently demonstrate how they reached the decisions they did throughout the dispute, asserting that “pre-determined outcomes appeared to have been rubber-stamped”.
A “pattern of ghost writing and HR making other people’s decisions for them” was found to be “standard practice” within the university’s HR department “given how often it happened in this case”.
The judgment called Cambridge’s handling of the matter “beset by repeated delay” and said the university had been unaware of the impact the “fitful” process had on all involved.
“Allegations against the claimant were accepted and subjected to a prolonged nearly two-year investigation by the university even though they contained scant particularisation, and no evidence to support them,” the judgment says.
“By contrast, a number of the claimant’s detailed concerns or complaints were dismissed out of hand without a proper process.”
...In response, Cambridge said in a statement that it acknowledged the judgment and was “carefully reviewing it”.
From: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/cambridge-v-c-criticised-whistleblowing-academic-wins-tribunal
