A professor in British Columbia who was fired after knowingly making false allegations of sexual harassment against a female colleague has had his termination upheld by an arbitrator.
SN was a unionized faculty member of the Melville School of Business at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, B.C. He was hired in January 2013 and terminated on Oct. 26, 2021. The grievance contested his dismissal, arguing that there was no just and reasonable cause for termination.
SN, who had been a regular full-time member of the Department of Applied Communications and Public Relations, was terminated following allegations he made against a female colleague. He claimed she had sexually harassed him over a period from May to October 2018, including making inappropriate comments and unwarranted physical contact.
For example, he claimed that she called him “cute” and said he was “easy on the eyes.” He also said she told him: “Your jackets and pants are so 70ish but sexy. Wait n see, you’re just a vagina bait, Hon.'”
In contrast, the woman said those remarks do not reflect the way she talked and some of the remarks — particularly the “bait” one — were “disgusting.”
An independent investigation into these claims concluded that the allegations were knowingly false. The university subsequently terminated the faculty member’s employment, stating that his actions constituted bad faith and were a distorted representation of events intended to pre-empt any potential complaint against him by the colleague in question.
During the arbitration hearing, the tribunal examined the credibility of the conflicting accounts provided by the faculty member and the accused colleague.
The tribunal’s decision highlighted several inconsistencies and implausible elements in the faculty member’s account, noting his testimony was often embellished and modified under pressure.
“I find the Grievor’s evidence is not credible. Inconsistencies permeated his version of the events set out in the Complaint; his accounts were modified under pressure in cross-examination; his evidence was embellished; and in some instances, his account was highly implausible,” the arbitrator said.
In contrast, the arbitrator found the female colleague’s testimony to be consistent, credible, and more in line with the preponderance of probabilities.
“In the unique circumstances of this case, I have considered two irreconcilable versions of events,” the arbitrator said. “The parties do not dispute that either the Respondent or the Grievor was ‘lying.’ I agree with the Employer that I need not decide why the Grievor would knowingly file a false Complaint. It is sufficient for me to conclude, as I have for the reasons given, that the allegations are false.”
The tribunal concluded that the faculty member had knowingly made false allegations against his colleague. As such, it found that the university had just cause to terminate his employment.
The grievance was dismissed on the grounds that the faculty member’s conduct, involving the intentional filing of a false complaint, warranted disciplinary action.
For more information, see Nasir v Kwantlen Polytechnic University, 2024 CanLII 15414 (BC LA).
