On July 2, 2024, Arbitrator D.P. (David Phillip) Jones issued his decision on the #FrancesWiddowsonCase. Widdowson had to wait a year and a half for the arbitration to commence. She then went through 30 hearing days from January to November 2023. Widdowson spent eight days on the stand.
https://www.canlii.org/en/ab/abgaa/doc/2024/2024canlii68666/2024canlii68666.html
Before she was fired, Widdowson went through five investigations. Three of these were due to three complaints that were made against her (by D.A. Dirks, Gabrielle Lindstrom, and Renae Watchman). Two investigations were due to 18 complaints that she made against her colleagues (Steve Eichler investigated the complaints against the “gang of 17” and Tim Haney).
Widdowson did an analysis of each investigation report. In the case of the Renae Watchman complaint, investigated by Geoff Hope, Widdowson examined all of the findings. These findings were posted on the wokeacademy.info site.
The investigation of the Renae Watchman complaint was the most destructive to academic freedom. Six and a half hours of investigation meetings were held. In spite of the detailed responses to the academically destructive allegations made by Watchman, Investigator Hope still found that Tweets not mentioning Watchman were harassing and created a toxic work environment.
Documents were also posted about the Jennifer Hawkins (D.A. Dirks complaint) and Nadja Rence (Gabrielle Lindstrom complaint) investigations.
Widdowson only was informed of the actual case against her on January 16, 2024, over two years after she had been fired. MRU had asserted that its case consisted of the investigators’ findings, but then it changed the many Tweets found to be harassing by Investigator Nadja Rence (the Gabrielle Lindstrom complaint) to the two Tweets of November 7, 2020, and changed the eight Tweets and one Facebook post found to be harassing by Investigator Geoff Hope to six Tweets (the Renae Watchman complaint – note “the August 27 Facebook post” referred to by MRU is actually two Tweets). These changes were put forward in points 91 and 155 of MRU’s January 16, 2024 submission (although MRU’s submission is still not written clearly, and so it is not definitively stated that it was Widdowson’s two November 7, 2020 “tweets mentioning GL” that were found to be harassing. This claim, however, was put forward by MRU’s lawyer at the arbitration hearing in November 2023).
MRU’s actual case against Widdowson, therefore, consists of 1) one Tweet satirizing “misgendering fatigue” and the LGBTQ initialism (D.A. Dirks complaint); 2) two Tweets satirizing Gabrielle Lindstrom’s attempts to instigate a mobbing campaign against Widdowson; 3) six Tweets from the complaint made by Renae Watchman (Geoff Hope investigator) satirizing the anonymous MRU Anti-Racism Coalition’s attempt to mob Widdowson, the comparison of residential schools to the holocaust, and a Tweet satirizing the comments of two colleagues – Gabrielle Lindstrom and Tim Haney (although the complaint was made by Renae Watchman); and 4) a complaint made by Widdowson against Tim Haney that was deemed to be frivolous and vexatious and made in bad faith.
On July 31, 2024 the Canadian Association of University Teachers and the Mount Royal Faculty Association appealed the decision to the Alberta Labour Board.
Frances Widdowson made a number of comments about the draft appeal document on July 30, 2024.
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