Timeline: Escalating Harassment at SMU
Brief overview of my journey at Saint Mary's University
- [2000] Hired to teach two Psychology courses at SMU.
- [2003-2011] Scored consistently higher than average on student evaluations.
- [Early 2007] Introduced private Facebook group to help disseminate course notes and facilitate student communication.
- [Mid 2007] Hired by SMU to teach an additional Psych course.
- [Nov 29, 2009] Required surgery, informed SMU, expected reasonable accommodation, if needed.
- [Dec 5, 2009] Received email from supervisor, taking issue with class Facebook group.
- [Between early 2010 and mid 2011] the situation escalated to include threats to my job, impediments to my work, false accusations, discrediting remarks, canvassing for student complaints, and other workplace bullying tactics.
- [Mid 2011] Employment at SMU was terminated.
Rights and Respect
Standing up for my academic freedom rights - which by definition include the rights of the students - exposed me to a series of escalating accusations, threats, and intimidation tactics by a department that specializes in workplace psychology, whose members demonstrated no interest in supporting my recovery, but a good deal of interest in justifying removing me from my teaching position.