UBC under fire again for its handling of a sex-assault claim
VANCOUVER — Stephanie Hale remembers jumping up and down and crying tears of joy when she received her acceptance letter from the University of British Columbia.
Now, she wishes she had pursued her degree anywhere else.
Hale has filed a complaint with B.C.’s Human Rights Tribunal, alleging the university failed to take action after she reported a sexual assault, leading her to struggle in class and take a medical leave. It is the second known complaint the institution is facing.
“I want there to be a better process for when this happens again,” said Hale, 23. “There are going to be others, which is a terrible shame. UBC is a really well-respected university and I feel it should set an example for other institutions for how to handle these kinds of incidents.”
The university has been under fire for its response to sexual assault allegations since 2015, when a group of women came forward to say the school had dragged its heels on complaints about a male PhD student. Glynnis Kirchmeier, who alleged she witnessed misconduct by the man, filed a human-rights complaint the following year.
In response to the criticism, as well as to a new B.C. law requiring universities to have sexual misconduct policies, UBC adopted a policy this year. It established offices at both its campuses to receive reports, which are to be handled by investigators with experience in handling sexualassault cases.
When contacted about Hale’s complaint, UBC said privacy legislation does not permit it to discuss individual cases.
Hale alleges the university discriminated against her based on her sex and mental disability, referring to her anxiety and depression. She says in the documents that she was sexually assaulted, choked and hit by a fellow student in January 2013.
The student has denied the allegations. He has previously told the Canadian Press the sex was consensual and she asked him to choke and hit her, which he did although it made him uncomfortable The Canadian Press does not typically identify complainants in sexual-assault cases, but Hale wants her name used.
Hale reported the allegation of sexual assault to multiple UBC staff members in 2013, but none suggested she make a complaint or directed her to relevant policies, she says in the documents filed with the tribunal.
The university took no action, she says, and she continued to see her alleged attacker in classes. Her grades started slipping, she suffered from nightmares and began to feel suicidal. She went on medical leave in December 2015 and has not returned to school.
The following February, she learned of the Non-Academic Misconduct Policy, which previously was one of two policies that dealt with sexual assault. The process was the same one used for theft or vandalism and involved a panel of students judging whether an attack occurred.
The human-rights complaint says Hale’s lawyer wrote a letter to UBC requesting it appoint a properly trained investigator. UBC declined and ultimately the hearing was held without Hale in late 2016. The committee cleared the man of misconduct.