Prof Jo Phoenix vs The OU - Employment Tribunal Thread 7

[ickky]

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

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[email protected]

Header should read

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

Ask for access link and pin and please give your name and address in the email as they check when you connect to the tribunal.

The clerk will ask you (in a private remote room) to put your camera on to verify, this involves looking at you, but no ID is needed. You may turn off your camera after this pointless and unnecessary process.

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
CW - Dr Christopher Williams, Senior Lecturer History
KS - Kevin Shakesheff. PVC for Research and Innovation
NatS - Natalie Starkey, Outreach & Public Engagement Officer Sch Physical Sciences, 2019-22
HBC - Helen Bowes-Catton, Lecturer Social Research Methods
JD - John Domingue, Prof of Computing Science, Director KMi, 2015-22
LW - Louise Westmarland, Prof of Criminology, Co-Deputy Head SPC, 2018-21, Current Head SPC
RH - Richard Holliman, Prof Engaged Research, Head School Environment, Earth & Ecosystem Sciences, 2019-22. Member of Investigation Panel investigating the C’s grievance
DD - Dr Deborah Drake, Senior Lecturer Criminology, Head of SPC 2018-21😇
CT - Catherine Tomlinson, Senior Student Advisor
SD - Shaun Daley, Head OU’s Resourcing Hub. Head Strategic Resources, Co-Chair OU’s LGBT+ Staff Network
NS - Nicola Snarey, Assoc Lecturer Eng Language
CT - Cath Tomlinson, Senior Student Advisor
SJ - Samantha Jacobson, Employee Relations Case Manager

Witness for JP:

SE - Professor Sarah Earle, Head of the HWSRA

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

TT coverage so far - https://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

Thread 5 https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4919223-prof-jo-phoenix-vs-the-ou-employment-tribunal-thread-5

Thread 6 https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4921308-prof-jo-phoenix-vs-the-ou-employment-tribunal-thread-6

I'm fantasising about the support wren being trained (perhaps by a parrot friend) to repeat each page number until everybody's got it.

Lark- have pm'd you

Being on sickness absence does not exclude you from recruitment/promotion opportunities, does it?

You've just made me think of this.

Cool. as. fuck.

DD wouldn't include JP's vindication (apology from Essex) in the good news section.

My memory, which I hope is better than DD's, is that DD was saying that her calls to JP wouldn't always be recorded, not if they were unofficial calls. Or something.

But if you don't make a note of when you call someone informally to check up on them and not as part of the calls mandated under policy, how do you show
duty of care, for a reasonable number, as against harassment?

Not sure re the recruitment process - we avoided it like a plague if we could. However, if she previously was included, then that is a thing.

Being on sickness absence does not exclude you from recruitment/promotion opportunities, does it?

Think this is about her being involved in recruiting other people, not her own opportunities for promotion.

I think she is talking about JP being involved in who else they are recruiting to the dept, not c her own job.

I'm finding BCKC really quite scary. Remind me never to get myself in a situation where he is questioning me.

Darn. Is Justin still on the 'if you are not in by the time we start you are not getting in' thing? My daughter turned up and I missed the window!

BC: JP thought she had a good relationship with you at the time, but didn't know about all the emails you were sending to DDownes and the others

BC: many of her colleagues thought JP was transphobic

DD: not many. There were those two

In that video, ST makes the point that the department more or less doubled in size over a relatively short time. This sort of rapid expansion can be destabilising, and result in the formation of disparate factions and ensuing poor relationships and bad behaviour.

yay! he let me in!!!

Oh yes. I would be like no way. Not getting on the stand. You can't make me.

Who is Charles Murray? Oh another racist 'uncle' comment.

She is now trying to weasel out of referring to Jo as a racist.

DD compared JP to Charles Murry (widely regarded as a racist) then immediately apologised when she realised JP "took offence"

So DD referred Jo to a racist but didn't mean it in a bad way

'I was trying to help the claimant understand' - that seriously is not your job as a manager.

OK , this is the magic bullet.

BC: You compared to JP to Charles Murray

DD: I did and apologised

BC: CM is seen as racist

DD: CM and his followers wouldn't think so

BC: CM seen as racist

DD: Yes, not the way in which I was comparing. Trying to make JP see her interests would be difficult for some of our colleagues to accept

“In 2019 just a few flare ups in relation to letter and conference.”

Yet she doesn’t know anything about GC stance until she read books in 2021?

My testimony, if facing BCKC, would consist in it's entirety of: 'Yes. Whatever you say. I'm sure you're right. I completely agree. Please may I go now? (Andmayihaveyourautographpleasethankyou?)'

This is the unravelling of all these TRA tropes isn't it.