Week 5 of the Hearing took place September 5-8. In those four days, History Professor Emeritus Paul Krause completed his direct testimony and cross, and former History grad student and Green College resident Stephen Hay began his direct testimony. Dr. Hay’s direct testimony is ongoing and will continue into the next hearing date September 18.
Member Prince spoke to the parties about how the Human Rights Tribunal regards evidence, specifically that for hearsay evidence it errs on the side of admitting evidence and then considers weight.
UBC is declining to call four key decision-makers in its defense: Monica Kay of the Equity and Inclusion Office; Mark Vessey, Principal of Green College; Clark Lundeen, Assistant Principal of Green College; and Steve Bohnen, UBC Security. All four of them received multiple direct reports/complaints about Dmitry Mordvinov, and all four of them also received multiple direct reports/complaints from General Class Members. Therefore my counsel Clea Parfitt and I determined to call them, which means they will testify much earlier in the process than expected. UBC counsel accepted the Notices to Appear for Vessey, Lundeen, and Bohnen, but claimed that it would not violate Ms. Kay’s privacy by passing on her contact information; after we made an Application, Member Prince ordered that UBC provide the contact information to us.
The decision in Hale v. UBCO was issued August 29, 2023 and given to the parties; Member Prince clarified to everyone during the Hearing that the Tribunal regards such decisions as public as soon as the parties receive it. There had been a delay in posting it to the Tribunal’s website, but it is now up. I plan to do a detailed analysis of the decision for this blog, but one of the issues it is silent on is Ms. Hale’s status with respect to being a General Class Member here. Ms. Hale plans to testify in that capacity, and UBC’s counsel let us know that UBC opposes that. Therefore the parties agreed to make written submissions to Member Prince sometime after the October hearing dates about whether Ms. Hale should be allowed to testify, and further to what extent the evidence entered in her prior proceeding should come over here, or whether she will have to repeat testimony.
Finally, we will lose some hearing time in October due to holidays and scheduling conflicts. It is very likely additional hearing time will need to be scheduled in 2024.
Glynnis Kirchmeier - and - Kirchmeier obo Others v. UBC 