Oxford row over sacking of gay fellow
Islamic studies centre of university, which is funded by Saudis, accused of age and sexual discrimination
THE Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies has been accused of firing a gay academic who claims it was worried about angering its Saudi backers.
Dr Kevin Fogg believes that he was unfairly dismissed from the centre and the fact he is a bisexual man in a homosexual relationship “did not comply” with the preference of its main funders.
In his employment tribunal, which is due to begin next week, he will argue that he was a victim of direct age discrimination as well as indirect discrimination due to his sexual orientation.
The centre, which was granted a Royal Charter by the Queen in 2012 and has the Prince of Wales as its patron, is classified as a “recognised independent centre of the University of Oxford”.
This means that while it is not officially part of the university, it closely collaborates on research and teaching, and has dozens of masters of Oxford colleges on its advisory committee.
Dr Fogg, 37, an expert in the history of Islam in south-east Asia, claims he was dismissed from his post at the centre in 2018 after spending five years there as a research fellow.
“I believe that this dismissal was not only unfair, but also discriminatory,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “As a homosexually partnered bisexual man, I do not comply with the preferences of the centre’s major funders, including the states of Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Kuwait, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates.
“The leadership made several references to my age, which I believe to have been coded language equivalent to calling me a ‘confirmed bachelor’.”
The centre has a “culture of antagonism and intolerance towards non-heterosexual lifestyles”, he alleges in his witness statement, which says the centre’s donors include states where homosexuality is punishable under law.
He points out that the centre’s board of trustees, which “directs all decisions including oversight of personnel decisions”, includes representatives of these countries. The chair of trustees is Prince Turki Al-faisal, who is a member of Saudi Arabia’s royal family, and the vice-chair is Sultan Nazrin Shah, who is the sultan of Perak, a state in Malaysia.
Dr Fogg, who is now the associate director of the Carolina Asia Centre at the University of North Carolina, said that his dismissal had a “significant and adverse impact” on his mental health.
The Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies said that it rejected Dr Fogg’s “wild allegations of discrimination, which have no basis in fact”.
He was appointed initially to a prestigious five-year fixed-term academic fellowship which, at his request, was renewed for a further year, it said.
“However in 2018, after an extensive process of review of his work, his request for a yet further period at the centre was declined,” it said. “It was only after, and it would seem as a result of, the centre turning down his request for a second extension that he has made this allegation of indirect sexual orientation discrimination.”
It added that his complaint of age discrimination was investigated by the centre when he first appealed its decision and was thrown out.
A spokesman for the centre said that Dr Fogg “has been treated very well”, adding that it would robustly defend his claims in the employment tribunal.
“The centre does not propose to comment on the proceedings and will make no further statement about the case until after its conclusion,” it said.