Fired Prof Suing Woman who Accused Him of Sexual Assault

Former University of British Columbia professor Steven Galloway is tired of people calling him a rapist.

The professor’s life was radically changed and his reputation tarnished when a woman accused him a sexual assault in the fall of 2015.  He was suspended, then fired, when the university claimed there were serious allegations of sexual assault and harassment against him… even though a report effectively cleared him of the assault.

The National Post has the story:

Former B.C. Supreme Court judge Mary Ellen Boyd wrote that report, and said she could substantiate none of the allegations against the celebrated author and former chair of UBC’s creative writing program — except, perhaps, that he’d erred by having a consensual affair with the woman… Even using the lower civil standard of “on a balance of probabilities” — the criminal one, “beyond a reasonable doubt,” is much tougher — the retired judge said of one purported assault that she couldn’t conclude it had occurred when alleged “or at all.”

In virtually every instance, Boyd found Galloway more credible than his accusers.

And so, he decided to sue his accuser (Caralea Cole, a 48-year-old artist and former faculty member in UBC’s creative writing program), two other professors (Keith Maillard and Annabel Lyon), and several students who “recklessly repeated” the allegations on social media. More than 20 are named in the lawsuit.

You’d think that the judge’s report would silence critics, but it has not:

Since Boyd issued her report in April of 2016, Galloway also has won several arbitration awards against UBC for its handling of the entire matter — most recently the university was found to have breached the confidentiality provisions of the first award he won, totalling more than $240,000.

Yet according to the statement of claim, it would seem that neither the judge’s findings nor the arbitrator’s decisions have served as any sort of deterrent to Galloway’s critics.

Here’s the kicker:

Collectively, the allegations serve as a harsh reminder that for the online mob, judicial and quasi-judicial findings, like verdicts in criminal trials, don’t count.

Exactly.  We’ve seen that in our own nation, haven’t we?  I hope this former professor wins big against these people who so carelessly sacrificed this man’s job.

It’s time for true justice for victims of sexual assault and victims of false sexual accusers.  You can’t really have one without the other.

Hat Tip: The National Post