Fired author awarded $167K in damages from UBC

Arbitrator fines school over violation of privacy

Steven Galloway, the author and former chair of the University of British Columbia’s creative writing program, has been awarded $167,000 in damages for statements that violated his privacy rights. The damages are in connection with two grievances filed after he was terminated in 2016 amid allegations of misconduct.

“UBC accepts the decision of the arbitrator,” the university said Friday in a short statement.

Galloway is the author of the book The Cellist of Sarajevo, among others.

The grievances were heard by arbitrator John B. Hall. The first, dated Dec. 9, 2015, was filed after UBC announced in a memo sent out to students that Galloway was being suspended. It referred to “serious allegations” against him but did not give specifics, fuelling speculation. It noted there would be an investigation.

That grievance asserted, “among other things, that the University’s actions had violated the Grievor’s privacy rights and had caused him irreparable reputational damage and financial loss.” In December 2015, investigator Mary Ellen Boyd, a former B.C. Supreme Court judge, was asked by the univer- sity to investigate complaints against Galloway. She filed a report to the university in April 2016 that has never been made public.

Later that year, on Nov. 23, Galloway released a statement saying Boyd found, on the balance of probabilities, that Galloway had not committed sexual assault. Boyd did find that Galloway had engaged in “inappropriate behaviour” with a student while both were married. However, the student said the complaints were not about a “consensual affair.” She voiced concerns about the apparent secrecy of the investigation. Galloway also said in the statement he had grave concerns about the investigative process followed by the university.

On Nov. 14, 2016, just before that statement was released, more than 88 writers from across Canada including Margaret Atwood, David Bezmozgis and Nino Ricci, signed an open letter calling for an inquiry into how UBC handled the issue. Signatories have since been added while some have removed themselves.

The second grievance was dated July 6, 2016, and was brought after the university fired Galloway in June of that year. The grievance challenged the termination and “further alleged that the content of the university’s communications regarding the termination had been misleading and had caused both serious reputational damage and ongoing personal suffering to the Grievor.”

The faculty association ultimately withdrew its claim asking that Galloway be reinstated. Hall noted in his summary that “I find that certain communications by the University contravened the Grievor’s privacy rights and caused harm to his reputation.” With files from The Canadian Press and Star staff