ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

Court rules Groningen is free to fire critical lecturer

<ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ class="standfirst">Dutch university can now dismiss Susanne T?uber, who had long accused it of flawed approaches to handling gender equality, discrimination and harassment
March 8, 2023
Source: iStock

A court has given the University of Groningen permission to fire Susanne T?uber, an organisational behaviour specialist and long-time critic of its gender equality efforts.

At a court hearing last month, lawyers representing Dr T?uber and Groningen¡¯s Faculty of Economics and Business agreed that their working relationship had deteriorated to such a degree that she could no longer work there.

The dispute began with??in the?Journal of Management Studies, in which Dr T?uber said the university¡¯s Rosalind Franklin Fellowship entrenched gender inequality, rather than correcting it, drawing on her personal experiences as a fellow.

In 2021, she??for the Groningen Young Academy that found those who complained about harassment or discrimination within the university faced intimidation, while perpetrators were protected. Ukrant,?, said that while sitting on the university council Dr T?uber often raised issues around exclusion and discrimination.

ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

ADVERTISEMENT

During the February hearing, the university¡¯s lawyer claimed Dr T?uber put strain on the relationship by accusing two of her managers of discrimination in a non-promotion complaint, adding that she failed to keep agreements and rejected an improvement process,?.

On 8 March a district court judge found that her firing was justified by the disturbed working relationship. The university said it had done its best to find a suitable position for her elsewhere at the institution.

ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

ADVERTISEMENT

Dr T?uber, who??Netherlands¡¯ Advisory Committee on Diverse and Inclusive Higher Education and Research, has become a figurehead for some fighting against discrimination and hostile working conditions in academia.

The group Casual Groningen, which opposes precarity and short-term contracts, launched a Twitter campaign using the hashtag #AmINext? to highlight what they said was the silencing of a high-profile critic. Local media said dozens of people had turned up a protest timed to coincide with International Women¡¯s Day.

?a university spokeswoman as saying that Groningen did not want to comment on the verdict, or personal matters in general, but that Dr T?uber¡¯s contract would be terminated.

ben.upton@timeshighereducation.com

Register to continue

Why register?

  • Registration is free and only takes a moment
  • Once registered, you can read 3 articles a month
  • Sign up for our newsletter
Register
Please Login or Register to read this article.
<ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ class="pane-title"> Related articles
<ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ class="pane-title"> Related universities
<ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ class="pane-title"> Reader's comments (4)
A sad day for gender equality.
All this on International Women's Day too...sad.
A sad day for open and honest debate on issues that can be challenging.
No suitable position elsewhere at the institution? Really?
<ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ class="pane-title"> Sponsored
<ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ class="pane-title"> Featured jobs
ADVERTISEMENT