Professor who claimed ‘Blak’ activists were leading University of Melbourne law school to ‘destruction’ settles discrimination case | Australian universities

A professor facing attempted dismissal after claiming in a leaked email that “‘Blak’ activists” aimed to lead the University of Melbourne’s prestigious law school to “destroy” him has reached a settlement with the institution.

University, Dr. He sought to oust Eric Descheemaeker after an email sent to the dean of the Melbourne law school (MLS) in 2023, claiming it had become an “ideological re-education camp”, was leaked and posted on the Parkville campus last year.

Descheemaeker later filed a discrimination lawsuit against the university, claiming that the attempt to expel him in July was motivated by his political views.

The case was scheduled to be heard next month in federal circuit and family court. However, sources told Guardian Australia the legal dispute has been resolved and an announcement will be made in the coming weeks.

Court records show the case was settled and dismissed by consent of the parties in November.

The university did not respond to Guardian Australia’s questions about the deal and whether Descheemaeker was still employed by MLS.

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In a statement, a university spokesperson confirmed that the federal circuit and family court dismissed Descheemaeker’s lawsuit.

“The university cannot comment further at this time,” the spokesman said.

The university attempted to dismiss Descheemaeker after the email sent in response to the announcement of a cultural vetting at the university was leaked. In the email, Descheemaeker said MLS “celebrates the ‘noble savage'” and likened it to an “ideological re-education camp.”

“There is absolutely no end to where the ‘Blak’ activists want to take us, other than destruction,” he wrote.

According to court documents, Descheemaeker claimed that the University of Melbourne took adverse action against him by suspending his employment because of his “political views”.

The court heard at a hearing last September that Descheemaeker’s legal team argued that the university was trying to expel him for his political statements after uncovering allegedly racist emails.

Descheemaeker’s lawyer, Dimitri Ternovski, said the professor’s comments in the emails were political views and not racist. He said his client’s correspondence was protected by the university’s academic freedom of expression policy.

Ternovski said the leaked August 2023 email used “colorful language” to oppose the “identity politics” increasingly being injected into the MLS curriculum and simply needed to get the dean’s attention.

Only a small portion of the university’s defense was heard in September as both sides agreed to a postponement.

Marc Felman KC, representing the university, said there was no prima facie case that Descheemaeker’s dismissal proposal was unlawful. He described the situation as ‘hopeless’.

The university launched its cultural safeguards review in 2023 – the same year indigenous academic Dr. Eddie Cubillo resigned from his position as associate dean and senior fellow at MLS following public complaints about institutional racism on the faculty.