Mediation is unsuccessful in UBC human rights complaint
A former University of British Columbia student who filed a human rights complaint over the school’s handling of sexual assault reports says mediation ended after an unsuccessful 90 minutes on Monday.
Glynnis Kirchmeier says she cannot disclose what happened during the early settlement meeting due to a confidentiality agreement, but she is pushing ahead with her case.
She filed a complaint in March with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, which said UBC didn’t act on numerous complaints about a male PhD student over long periods of time, resulting in more students being subjected to sexual violence.
Kirchmeier says she filed the complaint both as an individual and on behalf of anyone who has alleged sexual assault, sexual harassment or sex discrimination to the university. None of the allegations has been proven, but the school promised to create a standalone sexual assault policy in November 2015 after Kirchmeier and other women came forward with complaints about UBC’s handling of the case.
The university is consulting with students, faculty and staff on a draft policy, which has been criticized for continuing to rely on the school’s general Non-Academic Misconduct process to discipline students accused of sexual assault.
“It’s been a year since they promised to do better and I don’t see them incorporating that promise in a way that makes me think that it’s safe to drop the complaint,” Kirchmeier says.
Associate vice-president of equity and inclusion Sara-Jane Finlay says UBC participated in the meeting but can’t comment on what took place because there are ongoing legal proceedings.
As long as the complaint is not thrown out, the next steps will be for the university to file its response and for the disclosure process to begin.