Irony Overload

Freddie Attenborough has a very interesting Critic piece on another unfair dismissal claim related to gender politics.


A Phoenix rises

Professor Jo Phoenix’s legal triumph is also a triumph for free speech

A former Professor of Criminology at the Open University (OU) has become the latest in a series of gender critical feminists (i.e., feminists who believe sex is biological, immutable and should take precedence over gender identity in policy and in law) to win employment tribunals.

Professor Jo Phoenix, who established the OU’s Gender Critical Research Network (GCRN), has won her unfair dismissal claim against the institution. In its ruling, the tribunal also found that she suffered victimisation and harassment, as well as direct discrimination.

The OU’s failure to protect Professor Phoenix from harassment from colleagues and trans activists was, the panel’s ruling found, motivated by “fear of being seen to support gender-critical beliefs” and “fear of the pro gender identity section” of the university.


The whole piece is certainly worth reading, partly because of the weirdly emotional language used by OU academics and partly because of the horrible irony of it still being called the Open University.


When Professor Phoenix subsequently gave a talk at a Woman’s Place UK event in 2019 on the topic of trans rights, sex-based rights and the curtailment of academic freedom, more departmental pearl-clutching ensued. “I can hardly bear to open it,” quavered one staff member, having been emailed a link to the “video nasty” by another colleague.

Dr Downes also fired off an email to Prof Westmarland, complaining: “I watched it yesterday and had to take a walk. I found it very upsetting. Been a while since I cried at work.” The panel were distinctly unimpressed by that claim: “We considered the transcript of the talk,” the ruling states immediately after Dr Downes’ complaint is reproduced, “and there is nothing in the talk that we find that would be upsetting.” Ouch.