Student wins payout after ‘transphobic’ tweets inquiry
A UNIVERSITY has been forced to apologise and pay compensation to a PhD student subjected to a lengthy disciplinary inquiry over “transphobic” tweets, in the first case of its kind.
Jonathan Best, 50, was investigated for six months by Huddersfield University after another student filed an anonymous complaint about 13 of his tweets and his writings on transgender issues.
One tweet said: “Every trans woman is part of the same sex class as me. We’re all male.” The complainer accused Mr Best, a music tutor, of “misgendering” and said: “Could a trans woman student be expected to feel comfortable or respected being taught by him?”
Officials at the university started a formal inquiry and summoned him to disciplinary hearings, later alleging he had potentially been offensive and not respected others’ feelings.
In the first free-speech case of its kind, the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, which handles student complaints, has now criticised multiple “procedural failings” with the investigation and ordered the university to apologise and
‘In these free speech cases the process is the punishment. It makes you wonder if writing honestly is worth it’
pay him £800. It also told the institution to swiftly review its disciplinary procedures, after Mr Best complained.
He said it illustrated the “chilling effect on free speech in action”, with censorship and a “low grade totalitarianism” stifling debate on the distinction between gender identity and biological sex. “In these free speech cases, the process is the punishment,” he said. “It makes you wonder if speaking and writing honestly is worth it.”
Last week The Telegraph revealed how leading professors were facing formal investigations for “liking” and sharing tweets that students deem transphobic, as universities struggle to weigh academic freedom against pressure from activists to protect minorities.
The formal complaint against Mr Best alleged “repeated transphobic behaviour” and “discrimination”. An investigation was opened in Aug 2019 and he defended the posts under freedom of speech laws. The following month the complaint was dropped but four charges were levelled over him publishing the original complaint redacted online and campaigning for innocence. He was issued a formal warning by a faculty dean, despite not being notified of the charges or allowed a defence beforehand, and accused of “sexual, homophobic, racial or other unlawful harassment of any student”.
He was found in breach of the university’s social media and trans equality policies that protect against a “humiliating or offensive environment”. Mr Best successfully appealed, then went to the ombudsman, which reviewed the case.
It ruled: “We are not satisfied that the University has adequately apologised for the delay and the impact of the procedural failings on Mr Best.”
The university said it was “committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and will rigorously investigate claims of discrimination. While the University cannot comment on individual cases, we will of course follow any instructions issued by the OIA”.