Students who have filed a complaint against a lecturer who joked in virtual class that the tail of cats gave “orgasms” to one of them denounce the inaction of the University of Montreal.
“At some point, we get bored,” says Élise* (fictitious name).
She is one of the students of the School of Industrial Relations at the University of Montreal (UdeM) who filed a complaint against a lecturer who used to make personal and ribald comments.
Joannie* has children, something that was evident during virtual classes when she turned on her camera. During a fall 2020 fertility class, the lecturer suggested that she “needs to know what sperm tastes like,” she says.
It was in the winter of 2022 that the straw broke the camel’s back for Véronique*. Her cat came on screen during class. The lecturer then joked that his feline’s tail gave him “orgasms”.
The students also had grievances of an academic nature, such as the content of the courses and the method of citing sources.
They therefore approached the department’s management.
At this stage, they did not want the instructor to stop teaching, but simply for the situation to be corrected.
“I had the impression that we were listened to”, testifies Véronique. But in the end, their complaint came to nothing. Even the situation has degenerated. After being met by management at the end of February, the lecturer began to speak in class about the complaint against him.
Message to all
In April, the lecturer urged students to complete an assessment to restore his reputation, claiming to be the victim of a “smear campaign”.
On April 8, he wrote to the students, explicitly naming Joannie, who accompanied the plaintiffs as a student representative.
“Students at fault and [Joannie] can avoid criminal and civil proceedings through a Zoom discussion with me and a written apology, ”we can read in the message sent to around fifty students and of which Le Journal obtained a copy.
Disclaimers
Foreign students who were also thinking of filing a complaint have therefore decided to withdraw, fearing reprisals, explains Quentin de Dorlodot, president of the student union of the School of Industrial Relations at UdeM.
“The message it sends is that these kinds of complaints are useless, that the best thing to do is to keep quiet. This is extremely problematic,” notes Mr. de Dorlodot.
No intervention was made with all the students who received the message in order to rectify the situation, according to those interviewed.
“All I’ve done is accompany students in their efforts,” says Joannie, who is still shaken to have been targeted in this way.
She asked for an accommodation from the department to return her work later, the time to recover, which was refused, she laments.
The file is currently in the hands of the Office of Respect for Persons.
The lecturer in question is teaching this semester, in the summer of 2022. He did not respond to our interview request.
A “badly shod cobbler” department?
The School of Industrial Relations at UdeM is seen as a “badly shod cobbler” since it trains future human resources workers who will receive complaints in the workplace, raise several students.
“That is what is the most [fâchant]. They are supposed to train the best in this and they themselves have not been able to manage this complaint,” says Élise*.
“ Only ” of them
On March 23, the plaintiffs followed up with department management by email.
“The intervention is dosed according to the seriousness of the actions taken, the version of the facts of the teacher and the number of students who complain (in this case, only two people)”, can we read in the response seen by Le Journal.
It should be noted that at this stage, the third student acted as a guide only, before becoming the complainant herself.
Ball returns
“Nothing has been done to protect the students. That’s what I find absurd,” criticizes Joannie*.
But Quentin de Dorlodot of SERIUM is not ready to throw the stone at the School of Industrial Relations. “Everyone passes the buck to each other,” he explains. It’s a systemic problem.”
“Is it the fault of the department? From the Office of Respect for Persons? I’ve no idea.”
The Office for the respect of the person, that is to say the one-stop shop that receives complaints, only has the power of recommendation, he illustrates.
The management of the School of Industrial Relations did not respond to our interview request.
Long process
For its part, the UdeM indicates that it cannot comment given the confidentiality of the file. “All complaints are taken seriously. […] and when deemed admissible, an investigation must also take place. It takes time,” says Geneviève O’Meara of Media Relations.
Since the start of the 2019 school year, all universities must have a policy that frames the reporting process to comply with the new provincial law aimed at combating sexual violence on campus. A report from the Minister of Higher Education on the implementation of this law should be completed by next December.
*Fictional names. The students preferred to remain anonymous to avoid further reprisals.
Reference-www.journaldemontreal.com