Prof Jo Phoenix vs The OU - Employment Tribunal Thread 5

[ickky]

Started on 2nd October at Watford Employment Tribunal (Radius House, 51 Clarendon Rd, Watford WD17 1HP 01923 281750)

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Header should read

URGENT CURRENT CASE - Public Access Request - J Phoenix - The Open University - 3322700/2021

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Abbreviations

JP - Jo Phoenix, Claimant (C)
OU - The Open University, Respondent (R)
J - Regional Employment Judge Young
P - Panel or panel member
BC - Ben Cooper KC, Counsel for C
JM - Jane Mulcahy KC, Counsel for R

OU Departments & Networks:

HWSRA - Health & Wellbeing Strategic Research Area
FASS - Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
SPC - Dept of Social Policy & Criminology
KMi - Knowledge Media Institute
GCRN - Gender Critical Research Network

OU witnesses

PB - Dr Paraskevi Boukli, Former Senior Lecturer Criminology, Deputy Head SPC 2021-22
IF - Prof Ian Fribbance Dean of FASS
MW - Prof Marcia Wilson, Dean EDI, 2020-23
CM - Caragh Molloy, Group People Director 2019-23
LD - Dr Leigh Downes, Senior Lecturer in Criminology (in SPC), Academic Lead for EDI FASS 2019-21
PK - Peter Keogh, Professor Health & Society, Member RSSH
DD - Dr Deborah Drake, Senior Lecturer Criminology, Head of SPC 2018-21
CT - Catherine Tomlinson, Senior Student Advisor
LW - Louise Westmarland, Prof of Criminology, Co-Deputy Head SPC, 2018-21, Current Head SPC
JD - John Domingue, Prof of Computing Science, Director KMi, 2015-22
CW - Dr Christopher Williams, Senior Lecturer History
SD - Shaun Daley, Head OU’s Resourcing Hub. Head Strategic Resources, Co-Chair OU’s LGBT+ Staff Network
HBC - Helen Bowes-Catton, Lecturer Social Research Methods
NS - Nicola Snarey, Assoc Lecturer Eng Language
NatS - Natalie Starkey, Outreach & Public Engagement Officer Sch Physical Sciences, 2019-22
CT - Cath Tomlinson, Senior Student Advisor
SJ - Samantha Jacobson, Employee Relations Case Manager
RH - Richard Holliman, Prof Engaged Research, Head School Environment, Earth & Ecosystem Sciences, 2019-22. Member of Investigation Panel investigating the C’s grievance

Witness for JP:

SE - Sarah Earle, Professor Modern History Uni of Oxford, Founding member GCRN

Tribunal Tweets - https://twitter.com/tribunaltweets

TT coverage so far - tribunaltweets.substack.com/p/professor-jo-phoenix-v-the-open-university

Prof Jo Phoenix Witness Statement (scroll to bottom of page and download)

https://jophoenix.substack.com/p/phoenix-v-open-university?sd=pf

Thread 1 https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4905118-jo-phoenix-vs-the-ou-employment-tribunal-2nd-october-whispers-ben-cooper?page=1

Thread 2 https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4913946-prof-jo-phoenix-vs-the-ou-employment-tribunal-thread-2?page=1

Thread 3 https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4917480-prof-jo-phoenix-vs-the-ou-employment-tribunal-thread-3

Thread 4 https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4918479-prof-jo-phoenix-vs-the-ou-employment-tribunal-thread-4

Delurking with deepest apologies to the memory of G & S

Three little witnesses are we,
Pert as a witness well can be,
Filled to the brim with fervent glee,
All very keen to school!

YUM-YUM.

Everything is a source of fun. (Chuckle)

PEEP-BO.

Nobody's safe, for we care for none! (Chuckle)

PITTI-SING.

Life is a joke that's just begun! (Chuckle)

THE THREE.

All very keen to school!

THE THREE.

Three little theys who all unwary,
Come from an OU seminary,
Freed from its genius tutelary--
All very keen to school!
All very KEEEEEEEN to school!

YUM-YUM.

One is in EDI, Yum-Yum--

PEEP-BO.

Two little friends in attendance come--

PITTI-SING.

Three little theys who makes the sum.

THE THREE.

Three little theys from school!
Three little theys from school!

YUM-YUM.

From three little theys take one away.

PEEP-BO.

Two little theys remain, and they--

PITTI-SING.

Don’t seem to mean what it is they say--

THE THREE.

Three little theys from school!
Three little theys from school!

THE THREE.

Three little theys who, all unwary,
Come from an OU seminary,
Freed from its genius tutelary--
Three little theys from school!
Three little THEEEEEEEEEEYS from school!

<unfurls fans, retires fluttering>

@Richelieu that's splendid!

I have a friend who's wife is very high up in her field in a major Russell Group uni. She has a colleague, PoC similarly revered. In the Anthropology dept that she's a senior research fellow in, there are greater and greater calls that only Aborigine scholars should carry out work on indigenous artifacts.

Yes, you read that right. It's now not good enough to have moved from colonial invading xenophobes from a century ago trampling over local customs to the current bunch of BLM Kendi anti racism spouting academics who only have opinions bestowed on them.

No, whites, Westerners, they're out. Only locals.

She's horrified, even as a fairly signed up member of the woke caste. For her, this is the end of academia as any serious pursuit, it's now pure performance art and groupthink nihilism.

OTOH, my friend's daughter in her late20s is doing a PhD, and almost all the students are rolling their eyes at the Luxury Belief edicts that come their way. And the wokies and serious academics up to their necks in this anti humanism know the writing is on the wall.

Her and fellow skeptic students would laugh their arses off if they were following this case.

Indeed, I believe it's because those who've driven these antithetical-to-knowledge changes in academia know that they're irrevocably losing the battle, that they're pushing back hard.

Jo Phoenix is the enemy who must be destroyed for this poison to carry on unabated.

She wins, academic pursuit of the truth wins, we all win.

In the US there is apparently a massive switch from arts and humanities subjects to STEM. The argument used to be that arts and humanities provided thinkers important for our culture. Perhaps even more important in these tech driven times.

If I knew a young person wanting to study arts and humanities I would urge them to be very careful where they studied. They should be challenged and learn how to listen, evaluate and defend their own views if their educaiton is to be of value. It came as no surprise that poor Leigh Downes had Sally Hines as her PhD supervisor. She seems to think that it is fine to think in sound bites and slogans.

DS is in the middle of his search for a first academic job in social sciences and has already come across a few ads for vacancies, at prestigious institutions, that have red flags all over and demand to be treated with caution. As in "be very careful - this might be a OU or Evergreen". Too much emphasis on inclusion might result in institutions losing the diversity that they claim to want. At least when looking at diversity of thought.

I've been planting, for Pilgrim too.
Looking at Trial by Jury, and humming to self "From bias free of every kind, this trial must be tried," I notice the Defendant is described as an "unmanly male". Could we use that instead of other favoured words?

Is the term Gender Champion a ploy to take over the meaning of GC?

I’d love to be a Gender Champion by the way. I could champion, eh, gender all the livelong day. With impunity!

It sounds like the script from This Flag Means Death.

Hows about this then, for the opening?

Hark, the hour of ten is sounding:
Hearts with anxious fears are bounding,
Online access crowds surrounding,
Breathing hope and fear—
For to-day with vague theatrics,
Ignorance and verbal gimmicks,
The O U sued by Prof Jo Phoenix,
Shortly will appear.

And almost unaltered...

Oh, listen to the plaintiff's case:
Observe the features of her face—
She broken-hearted cried.
Condole with her distress of mind:
From bias free of every kind.
This trial must be tried!

After reading this tidal wave of bilge in court (poor, poor Jo and Ben), I'm gonna help Pilgrim as well.

Labour may well get in with their "kumbuya for all" mantras, but the real work will happen in the courts. Starmer can drone on about fairness and freedom. The real fairness and freedom will be that fought for and won by Bailey, Forstater, hopefully Jo and Pilgrim. There's another thread for someone else being hauled over the coals as well?

This is the future of GC activism...KJK visibility, and the nuts and bolts in the courts. So the likes of Starmer can't take women for granted.

Interim version. I've saved some space for the remaining witnesses.

When there's been another failure in employment (in employment)
And TRAs engage in shutting down (shutting down)
Women meeting just to speak, or for enjoyment (for enjoyment)
Then we all get our spades out with a frown (with a frown)

Our feelings we no longer plan to smother (plan to smother)
There's five thousand bundle pages to be done, to be done
Ah, take one consideration with another (with another)
Our Ben Cooper's lot is not a happy one

Ahh
With five thousand bundle pages to be done, to be done
Our Ben Cooper's lot is not a happy one

When the space cadets and windbags won't stop burbling (so much burbling!)
And they can't say what is which side of the line (of the line)
The panel's stomachs now are all a'gurgling (all a'gurgling)
And the Judge has one eye always on the time (on the time)

Now the Dean's wanting to give another lecture (nother lecture)
DocD says what they feel not what they've done, what they've done
They forget that this is not their own prefecture (own prefecture)
Poor Ben Cooper's lot is not a happy one

Ahh
Still four thousand bundle pages to be done, to be done
Poor Ben Cooper's lot is not a happy one (happy one).

Head of HR says she hasn't read the grievance (read the grievance)
We'll need smelling salts for that line of defence (no defence!)
Incompetence may not be true malfeasance (be malfeasance)
But you shouldn't, at that paygrade, be so dense (be so dense)

Both Cooper and the judge are getting snippy (getting snippy)
Still three thousand bundle pages to be done, to be done
You'd get more sense from a stoner or a hippy (or a hippy)
Oh, Ben Cooper's lot is not a happy one

Ahh
Still three thousand bundle pages to be done, to be done
Oh, Ben Cooper's lot is not a happy one (happy one).

For the details most of them claim bad amnesia (bad amnesia)
But they think that they were off on annual leave (annual leave)
They just signed it as a sign of sympathesia (sympathesia?)
The letter doesn't say what anyone believes (one believes)

They gave no thought to who they might be harming
There's two thousand bundle pages to be done, to be done
And the SU is still paranoia farming (-oia farming)
Wow, Ben Cooper's lot is not a happy one

Ahh
There's two thousand bundle pages to be done, to be done
Wow, Ben Cooper's lot is not a happy one (happy one).

[Verse reserved for next week's developments]

Ahh
Just a thousand bundle pages to be done, to be done
Dear Ben Cooper's lot is not a happy one (happy one).

[Verse reserved for next week's developments]

Ahh
All five thousand bundle pages have been done, have been done
May Ben Cooper's lot be now a happy one (happy one).

No idea why it won't let me italicise the first bit.

I was pondering similarly this morning. My first day out after a bad case of covid. We went to a huge nature area where there are lots of gentle walks. The sun was out, and there was a breeze. It was a glorious morning.

We sat on a bench and watched the wild birds and talked. We talked about the Tribunal so far, and our fears and hopes for the girls in the family.

We actually talked about encouraging them into STEM, or Law, or into apprenticeships. After listening to the likes of Dr. Downes, so lacking in curiosity even about basic, recent, LGB history ( I wasn't born in the 90's), who would want to make the sacrifices for their young relatives to study with the likes of her? And her colleagues too. This isn't Education, it's Indoctrination.

As we were chatting, two young women walked past, hand in hand, obviously very into each other, and we exchanged smiles. My heart burst for them as they moved on. Thousands of years of the world knowing what a woman is, and yet in 2023 it's come to this, a Professor, basically on trial, for speaking the truth.

Not G&S, but I had this idea. It scans slightly off, but hopefully Rammstein won't mind this little homage to 'Sonne.'

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,out

All wait for the answer
They ask me to speak the words
'My truth' shines out above all
Reality will go down tonight
The court counts silently to 10

One, here comes the waffle
Two, here comes mendiacity
Three, it is the darkest obfuscation
Four, here comes 'my truth'

My hubris shines out in my words
Reality can burn, can hurt you
If it is said out loud
It lays waste to 'right think'
'My truth' shan't go down tonight
The court counts silently to 10

One, here comes the waffle
Two, here comes mendacity
Three, it is the darkest obfuscation
Four, here comes 'my truth'
Five, here comes the waffle
Six, here comes mendacity
Seven, it is the darkest obfuscation
Eight, here comes 'my truth'

My hubris shines out in my words
Reality can burn, can hurt you
If it is said out loud
It lays waste to 'right think'
'My truth' shan't go down tonight
Reality must not be found
Or the 'right think' falls hard to the ground
And the court counts sliently to ten

One, here comes the waffle
Two, here comes mendacity
Three, it is the darkest obfuscation
Four, 'my truth' is the only truth
Five, here comes the waffle
Six, here comes mendacity
Seven, it is darkest obfuscation
Eight, here comes 'my truth'

@BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn@Kallikrates you've made me smile, thanks

@BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn that's amazing!

Love Three Little Theys @Richelieu .

Must listen to the original Trial By Jury so I can properly appreciate the ones from there - I don't know it that well.

Here's one for arBilly B, lest we forget his role in disappointing so many people online. He deserves that credit.
................................................................................

I was a mother
I was a woman
They took my words away
Before the wars
I raised a family
In times of austerity
With no thanks to the CMS
Before the wars

I paid the union and as times got weirder
I looked to the government
to help me understand
But they bought some lies and shit
down at Tavi's pharmacy
They're turning girls into 'boys'
To fight some crazy war

Go protect the young ones never to be cut again
Flush away the drugs from the days gone by
Sweet moderation
Heart of this nation
Desert us not, we are
About to win this war

Thanks @Ereshkigalangcleg and@FigRollsAlly . That's good to hear, good on Sonia. All I ever see of her is SM updates where she's hugging Gyles Brandreth or similar.

Thanks to all the amazing creative lyricists here!

Have just gardened for JP.

And the OU was ineffective in their duty of care to Jo as an employee who held views that were just as protected in law as the witnesses views.

Views that are more protected in law.

There's no law to have to use preferred pronouns or to pretend that men can use female spaces if they say they feel like a woman at that particular moment. (I'm looking at you Eddie Izzard and your girl/boy modes). There's no such thing in law.

Nor is there a law to say that a person can be of no sex at all. There is certainly no law to say that we can't talk about this.

I read Prof Phoenix's Witness Statement in full last night, then did some gardening.

From her statement I learned that her criminological/sociological research led to actual changes in the treatment of vulnerable girls. It has had an impact for good in real life/on real lives.

As a former leader in a prestigious university, she oversaw the setting up of a School of Pharmacy - a discipline outside her specialist area, and one where words and terminology are precise. Another impact for good, including investment in the deprived area of Stockton.

I am shocked that so eminent an academic should have been subjected to the treatment shown at all levels in the OU. I wonder if an additional element to the batshittery may have been spiteful resentment of her achievements from some of the halfwits we've heard? Her proposed work there would surely have shown up the poverty of much of theirs?

I have not been able to find Prof Earle's Witness Statement. Has anyone got a link?

It's just below the link to Jo's statement, on Jo's substack

I read Prof Phoenix's Witness Statement in full last night, then did some gardening.

I've nearly finished it, about a quarter left, it's quite a read! Thoroughly recommend taking the time.

If there was ever a garden that needed tending..

About £25K to go.

I've had @Richelieu 's "Three Little Maids From School" earworming all day yesterday and I noticed the chorus is a rare opportunity to rhyme the word "non-binary" So here's a variation or two for the chorus:

Three little theys who, all unwary,
Come from an OU seminary,
All taught to think they're non-binary --
Three little theys from school!

Three little theys who, all unwary,
Come from an OU seminary,
Educated people must be non-binary --
Three little theys from school!

(Edited because I had a bit of a dither and decided I like "people" better than "women", which I put first. Hum what you like!)

PS Thank you @Richelieu that was a lot of fun!