Human resources professor ‘sacked over Greta Thunberg tweet’

A human resources professor sacked by an Australian university four days before Christmas, and six days after he had complained about the institution to Victoria’s anti-discrimination commission, has claimed he lost his job over a tweet.

Andrew Timming said his 21 December dismissal by RMIT University was the culmination of an escalating campaign against him following what he considered an inconsequential tweet a year earlier.

Professor Timming was fired after disputing what he claimed was a near-doubling of his teaching workload. On 13 December the university launched an investigation of his refusal to accept work directions, and a week later found him guilty of “serious misconduct”.

He was summoned to a disciplinary meeting the following day, when he was sacked and his access to RMIT’s computer network was cancelled. He was told he could collect his personal belongings and computer files under the supervision of security staff.

Professor Timming, a self-declared conservative and founding member of the Free Speech Union’s Australian chapter, has appealed the dismissal to RMIT and the Fair Work Commission (FWC).

He said RMIT spent months trying to get rid of him after a December 2022 tweet went viral. Administrators “went ballistic” after he lodged a grievance last May alleging that RMIT had violated the university’s intellectual freedom policy by threatening disciplinary action over the tweet, he says.

In December, after he accused an RMIT executive of “tampering with evidence” in a public interest disclosure to Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, events unfolded rapidly.

“There was no way they could keep me in the workplace at that stage because I could simply collect more information just by talking to people,” Professor Timming said. “They just went with whatever excuse they could come up with.”

RMIT has declined to comment, saying it does not discuss individual staff matters. Professor Timming claimed the university’s earlier actions included attempting to sack him on health grounds, standing him down for over four months, terminating his position as a deputy dean and forcing him to abandon two research projects by withdrawing his Department of Defence security clearance.

He said all this began following a social media spat between accused human trafficker Andrew Tate and environmental activist Greta Thunberg, during which Ms Thunberg derided the size of Mr Tate’s penis. In a tweet, Professor Timming observed that “demeaning sexual jokes” appeared fair game when directed from women to men, but not the other way around.

“Maybe in retrospect it was controversial, but that’s neither here nor there,” he said. “Academics have a right to be offensive and shocking. It’s part of our role. We’re encouraged by our universities to engage in public debate. It’s called impact.

“I decided to delete my Twitter account…thinking that would pacify the university and maybe keep my job. Obviously it didn’t.”

In a document lodged with the FWC, RMIT says it took no “adverse action” against Professor Timming and that some of his allegations have already been examined in the FWC and elsewhere. “The respondent [RMIT] does not intend to address these matters in detail…as [they] have no bearing upon…the respondent’s decision to terminate the applicant’s employment.

“Even if the respondent contravened the Fair Work Act as alleged, which is expressly denied…reinstatement would not be appropriate given the total loss of trust and confidence between the parties.”

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com