Tykwinski was new to UAlberta when he made the decision to terminate me. Tykwinski was probably unaware of my activities with the Center for Teaching and Learning, unaware of my role as the outreach coordinator, unaware of me helping faculty 1-on-1 to improve their teaching, unaware of me sitting on university-level teaching and curriculum committees, unaware of me representing the University with Alberta Education, and unaware of my positive relationship with many in the department and University.
Tykwinski was probably not prepared for the outcry from the University community to the news of my departure. Tykwinski had to do damage control.
It took years to receive records through FOIP. When I finally received them, I discovered an email Tykwinski sent to the entire department. Over 400 people received an email stating that ‘it was a personnel issue, and that he couldn’t provide details.’ Any reasonable academic, when a person is terminated without warning, thinks, “he did something seriously wrong.” When the terminated person is male, the suspicion is an inappropriate relationship. Except I didn’t do anything wrong. Textbook defamation.
Human Resources blacklisting
Not content with just informing the department, Jeremy Wilhelm (UAlberta Human Resources) met with Kerrie Johnston (2IC of the department) to identify places that I could seek employment from.
UAlberta Human Resources informing all conceivable employers (colleges, universities, academies, school boards, etc.) would explain why an award-winning instructor is rarely able to get an interview, much less permanent employment.
This blacklisting occurred around the same time that Tykwinski sent his email to hundreds of people (six weeks after I was informed that I was terminated). The AASUA investigation occurred over the next year
(twelve months). During that investigation, the only explanation the University repeatedly gave was “Management Rights”, and they continued arguing “Management Rights” all the way to arbitration. (The University capitulated just before arbitration, but I didn’t get my job back.)
- If a faculty member disagrees with a management decision, and the AASUA agrees with the faculty member, and the AASUA takes the matter to arbitration, blacklisting is a highly questionable measure.
- If there was another reason to blacklist me, why wasn’t that reason disclosed to me and the AASUA? Years later, UAlberta suggested that there was a complaint. Why wasn’t that complaint disclosed and properly investigated? (See the A complaint! tab for a thorough discussion of that possible complaint.)
- The University’s investigation of Tykwinski was completed in 13 days! The appointed an internal person (breaching policy) who was so biased that she didn’t even interview me!
The University of Alberta blacklisted me because I disagreed with their decision, or because they failed to disclose and properly investigate a complaint. Either way, gross misconduct by UAlberta Administration.
Consequences
Tykwinski’s defamatory email went to over 400 people in my field at one of the largest universities in Canada. The academic community is small. People move between institutions. Add to this UAlberta Human Resources blacklisting me with other academic institutions and who knows where else. The result is that it has been impossible for an award-winning instructor to find permanent employment. I am not contacted for interviews. Sometimes, “what happened at UAlberta” is explicitly stated as the reason for not considering my application.
The consequences are permanent. I had an interview in 2023 at a smaller institution far from Alberta. “Would you tell us what happened at the University of Alberta.” was asked by a member of the hiring committee. While I downplayed my departure as me disagreeing with the new Chair’s decisions and the faculty union supporting me (completely truthful), they followed up by asking, “if my departure had anything to do with improper conduct on my part”. While I vehemently denied any improper conduct or wrongdoing, it is not possible to recover from that allegation during an interview.
See also the Psychological trauma and Restorative justice posts.
When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser. – Socrates