YUFA
Stewards' Information
YUFA Wins Resounding Victory for Academic Freedom at York: Resolution of David Noble Case
by Penni Stewart, Chief Steward
20 Nov 07 - After seventeen days of arbitration, stretched over three years, YUFA has won a resounding victory for academic freedom at York. On 19 November 2004, the York University Administration, jointly with Hillel at York and SPHR (Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights), issued a media release denouncing a flyer handed out after an SPHR film event the night before. That flyer, entitled The York University Foundation: The Tail that Wags the Dog (Suggestions for Further Research), was authored by YUFA member Professor David Noble.
The media release, posted on York’s Website and also provided to major media sources, gave rise to YUFA's grievance, which alleged that the Administration had violated Articles 3 (non-discrimination), 10.01 (academic freedom) and 11 (professional responsibilities) of the Collective Agreement. YUFA argued that the media release was libelous and that it infringed Professor Noble’s freedom to, paraphrasing the words of Article 10 of our Agreement – speak, examine, question, teach, and learn and his freedom to pursue without interference or reprisal his research, creative and professional activities and to criticize the University.
In filing a grievance, YUFA sought several remedies, chief among them a declaration that the Administration had violated the Collective Agreement by publishing the media release, as well as by joining with student groups to craft the statements set out in the media release. We also requested an apology and damages. It was our contention that, in publishing and distributing the media release, the York Administration failed in its obligation under our Collective Agreement to protect and promote academic freedom.
The Arbitrator, Russell Goodfellow, agreed; in his conclusion, he writes,
“…York breached Article 10.01 of the Collective Agreement by failing to respect Professor Noble’s rights as an academic. Indeed, it may be said that York failed to extend Professor Noble even the most basic of courtesies that might reasonably be expected to be enjoyed by a faculty member. The University publicly vilified his work without first contacting him or YUFA to advise of its concerns, to investigate the matter, or to indicate what it was contemplating. Had it done so, it is at least possible that much, if not all, of what ensued could have been avoided.”
Arbitrator Goodfellow did not accept all of YUFA’s arguments and remedies. In the end, he:
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declared that the Administration breached Article 10.01 of the Collective Agreement;
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ordered the Administration to remove the Media Release from its Website; and,
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ordered the Administration to pay damages to Professor Noble in the amount of $2,500.00.
This grievance speaks to an important principle and cherished value in academic life. It is absolutely inappropriate for the Administration to use the weight of the institution against one of its own faculty members because she or he offends the political sensibilities of its executives. The Administration’s reaction went far beyond the reasoned response, to which it was entitled. Instead it acted in haste, made no effort to clarify issues with Professor Noble, impugned the motives of our colleague, and used its considerable public relations resources to make its views known. In the process, the Administration demonstrated a striking, worrying misunderstanding about the purpose of the University.