The grievance filed by two Trent University professors who were involuntarily tossed from their department and offices has been settled. The settlement document confirms and reinstates the professors' full collective agreement rights. The settlement includes a written apology from the University to Andreas Pickel and Mark Neufeld confirming Trent's failure to follow due process and for the harm and considerable distress caused to both as a result of management's unilateral decision to remove them from the Politics department.

The Memorandum of Settlement contains the following apology;

The University acknowledges and regrets the harm and considerable distress caused to Professor Neufeld and Professor Pickel as a result of the Dean’s unilateral decision to remove Professor Neufeld and Professor Pickel from the Politics Department in April, 2005. The failure to follow due process in arriving at this decision was inconsistent with the Collective Agreement. The decision contradicted their letters of appointment. A new, mutually-agreed upon arrangement has been reached to rectify and remedy the situation. The University is committed to putting in place processes consistent with the Collective Agreement which will ensure that any future problems of a similar nature will be addressed and resolved in a respectful and effective manner.

The treatment of the two professors which lead to the grievance was foreseen in 1997 the Final Report on the External Review of the Administration of Trent University (the Arthurs-Lorimer Report) which cited the loss of civility with regard to the management of labour relations;

Likewise, labour relations may well periodically descend into conflict, but conflict need not take the form of personal abuse. Both parties must be committed to the process of negotiation, and the resolution of conflict should bring with it a commitment to make the relationship work in a reasonable manner.

We understand the admission of error and written apology to be unique in the history of Trent and may signal a positive change in the direction of the management of human resources at Trent as recommended by Arthurs-Lorimer.

The grievance was settled at the beginning of April, around the same time that the resignation of Associate Vice President Human Resources David Mahy was anounced. One cannot but wonder if there is any connetion between the two.

References:

• Trent Tosses Two Teachers: Employee Relations Poorly Managed?
  OurTrent article -September 19, 2005
• David Mahy To Resign
  OurTrent article - April 4, 2007