A University of Victoria professor renowned for his work in environmental psychology has been fired over sexual harassment allegations.
Robert Gifford, 78, helped pioneer the field of environmental psychology, researching climate change anxiety and the interaction of people and their surroundings.
In the summer of 2024, Gifford was quietly fired from UVic after an investigation found his “repeated harm to junior scholars” and a “lack of accountability and understanding of [his] obligations as a senior scholar.”
The news was made public because Gifford appealed his firing to the Labour Relations Board, which, in May and August of this year, published their decisions.
Watch the report below:
Two allegations of sexual harassment
Gifford’s termination surrounds two incidents: one from 2018, where the Labour Board says he suggested that a former student share a conference hotel room with him. The second incident was in 2021, when Gifford told a graduate student he was attracted to her.
On Monday, to CHEK News, Gifford contested the first 2018 incident involved a student.
“The person in the hotel incident was not, and had never been, a student of mine, nor a UVic student, nor was she an employee,” said Gifford.
Gifford also questioned the timing of UVic’s investigation into him, which he says, began while he was leading a campaign to protest the closure of the Speakers Bureau.
“Was UVic’s investigation into my suggestions several years earlier a coincidence? Did former President Kevin Hall authorize or approve it?” he wrote.
Seeking a lesser discipline because of four decades of work at UVic
Gifford does admit he was in the wrong, calling the instances ‘momentary lapses’ that he immediately withdrew and apologized for.
“I deserve lesser discipline than being terminated after over 40 years of–some would say exemplary–service to UVic,” said Gifford in his statement.
Union refused to go to bat for Gifford
Two months after being fired, Gifford asked his faculty association to take his grievances to arbitration. The union refused to do so after getting a legal opinion, which a representative described to Gifford in an email.
“Their analysis of the case was that there were mixed chances of success at arbitration, and that reasonable arguments could be put forward for and against our case,” read the email, which is cited in the LRB decision.
“One concern they raised was your potential effectiveness as a witness, which would require consistently demonstrating an understanding of the power dynamics at play in this and the previous case, and in taking full responsibility for both events.”
Gifford’s allegations shot down by Labour Relations Board
Gifford’s pleas for progressive discipline and his claims of a faulty investigation were shot down by the Labour Relations Board, which sided with the university twice.
UVic wouldn’t comment on the allegations, citing privacy legislation, but said in a statement that “terminating employment is not a step we take lightly and, when it happens, is indicative of the serious nature of the concerns raised.”
It’s open for Gifford to file a judicial review of the Labour Board’s decision. It’s unclear if that’s a step he will take.