1 week ago
3
A Melbourne University professor facing termination after using derogatory language against Indigenous Australians has argued in court that he was simply expressing political opinions.
The institution decided in July to fire Melbourne Law School professor Eric Descheemaeker over “a sustained pattern of inappropriate conduct” after it discovered emails and messages containing allegedly racist remarks.
But the academic took court action before the sacking could be officially completed, alleging the disciplinary process against him was an “adverse action” under the Fair Work Act.
The two sides met on Tuesday in the Federal Circuit Court, where Descheemaeker sought an injunction against being dismissed until his case had been fully heard.
Loading
Descheemaeker made headlines in June after an email he sent his boss, Matthew Harding, then dean of the law school, in August 2023 was leaked and posted up around the Parkville campus. The email was in response to news of an Indigenous cultural safety review, which Descheemaeker described as “an ideological re-education camp”.
“Celebrating the ‘noble savage’ is already the main, if not exclusive, thing [Melbourne Law School] appears to exist for – with just a bit of space to spare for every possible sexual or gendered minority vying for claims to victimhood,” Descheemaeker wrote.
The court heard that the email left the university’s then provost shaken, although the human resources department ruled at the time that serious action could not be taken because Descheemaeker’s message could be regarded as legitimate academic expression.
But the professor’s barrister, Dimitri Ternovski, told the court the email left key figures at the university determined to “get” his client.
Ternovski said that after failing to have him seriously sanctioned for the 2023 email, managers at the university then turned to other unrelated complaints against Descheemaeker from Law School colleague Katy Barnett.
He said many of Barnett’s complaints, some of which date back to 2018, had been “absurd”, including that Descheemaeker might be a potential school shooter or a groomer of students and that Barnett felt unsafe because her colleague knew the suburb she lived in.
Ternovski told the court that the university had never shown any interest in investigating Barnett’s claims until after the 2023 email was circulated. Then in early 2024, the HR department, acting on Barnett’s complaints, decided to search Descheemaeker’s email account, where it discovered a number of emails.
The messages included commentary on the Voice referendum campaign, in which he referred to Indigenous people as “poor little Abos”; derogatory remarks against the university; inappropriate COVID-19 references, such as the “Chinese flu” and the “Wuhan virus”; and commenting on the “white” appearance of an Indigenous colleague.
The university also cited four messages Descheemaeker sent to Barnett that contained remarks about Israel’s war on Gaza.
Ternovski denied that Descheemaeker’s comments were racist or antisemitic, saying the emails were clear expressions of political opinions about the Voice referendum, the Chinese government’s handling of the pandemic and the conduct of the Israeli government.
The university’s barrister, Marc Felman, told the court that the “unacceptable” material in Descheemaeker’s emails made his case against the dismissal “hopeless”.
But the court heard no more of the university’s defence to Descheemaeker’s claims after both sides agreed to an adjournment.
The case will return to court in February.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Most Viewed in Politics
Loading
