The University of British Columbia is still refusing to reveal whether a professor who said it was "too bad" the gunman missed Donald Trump will face any disciplinary action.Officials have been silent on the matter since Dr. Karen Pinder's posts on X went viral in July 2024.When pressed by the Western Standard, Director of University Affairs Matthew Ramsey simply said, "There's nothing more to say other than what we've previously said."As the CBC reports, when the posts were originally brought to UBC's attention, officials said they were "looking into" them and made it clear the institution "does not condone violence of any kind."Since then, however, little else has been said by the university regarding her status as professor of teaching in the department of cellular and physiological sciences.On July 13, 2024, just hours after Trump was nearly assassinated, Pinder posted, "Damn, so close. Too bad." on her personal X account. She followed that up by responding to a comment wishing the gunman had better aim with, "What a glorious day this could have been!".Countless other users condemned her statements, and called for her to be fired.Whether or not she will be reprimanded remains to be seen.In an interview with the Western Standard, Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms lawyer Glenn Blackett explained that while Pinder's comment would fall under "protected speech," that was a moot point due to the fact that UBC is not, by BC current caselaw, bound by the Charter.He noted, however, that it would be difficult for UBC to let her go because of a tweet."In order to fire an employee you generally need to be able to prove that they breached their employment contract in some way, which usually in the form of insubordination," he said, "so in order to fire her … they would probably need to have either something in the contract that says you can't say this kind of thing, or they would need to have had a situation like this happen before and then they would have had to have … warned her and then she continued to do it."Blackett added that UBC was still "in a powerful position as an employer," and thus, "her legal position is such that if the university did decide to fire her, it might be a long and difficult road for her to get some kind of compensation if they shouldn't have."He cited the case of Frances Widdowson, an associate professor who was fired from Mount Royal University in 2022 over her comments about the Black Lives Matter movement and residential schools, which some students said made them uncomfortable, noting that she had been forced to fight in arbitration for any sort of recompense.
The University of British Columbia is still refusing to reveal whether a professor who said it was "too bad" the gunman missed Donald Trump will face any disciplinary action.Officials have been silent on the matter since Dr. Karen Pinder's posts on X went viral in July 2024.When pressed by the Western Standard, Director of University Affairs Matthew Ramsey simply said, "There's nothing more to say other than what we've previously said."As the CBC reports, when the posts were originally brought to UBC's attention, officials said they were "looking into" them and made it clear the institution "does not condone violence of any kind."Since then, however, little else has been said by the university regarding her status as professor of teaching in the department of cellular and physiological sciences.On July 13, 2024, just hours after Trump was nearly assassinated, Pinder posted, "Damn, so close. Too bad." on her personal X account. She followed that up by responding to a comment wishing the gunman had better aim with, "What a glorious day this could have been!".Countless other users condemned her statements, and called for her to be fired.Whether or not she will be reprimanded remains to be seen.In an interview with the Western Standard, Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms lawyer Glenn Blackett explained that while Pinder's comment would fall under "protected speech," that was a moot point due to the fact that UBC is not, by BC current caselaw, bound by the Charter.He noted, however, that it would be difficult for UBC to let her go because of a tweet."In order to fire an employee you generally need to be able to prove that they breached their employment contract in some way, which usually in the form of insubordination," he said, "so in order to fire her … they would probably need to have either something in the contract that says you can't say this kind of thing, or they would need to have had a situation like this happen before and then they would have had to have … warned her and then she continued to do it."Blackett added that UBC was still "in a powerful position as an employer," and thus, "her legal position is such that if the university did decide to fire her, it might be a long and difficult road for her to get some kind of compensation if they shouldn't have."He cited the case of Frances Widdowson, an associate professor who was fired from Mount Royal University in 2022 over her comments about the Black Lives Matter movement and residential schools, which some students said made them uncomfortable, noting that she had been forced to fight in arbitration for any sort of recompense.
