NUI Galway seeks removal of ‘defamatory’ blog post

NUI Galway (NUIG) has defended its decision to threaten legal action over the removal of a blog run by supporters of a former academic at the centre of a high-profile gender equality row at the college.

Last month its solicitors wrote to Automattic Inc, the US-based firm which owns Wordpress. com, calling for the immediate removal of a blog post which, it said, seriously damaged its reputation. If it failed to do so, it said it reserved the right to issue High Court proceedings seeking defamation damages.

The post – “Micheline’s three conditions” – makes a series of allegations over the university’s handling of cases involving female staff who missed out on promotions.

The website is run by supporters of Dr Micheline Sheehy Skeffington – granddaughter of suffragette Hanna Sheehy Skeffington – who won a landmark Equality Tribunal case against NUIG in 2014. It ruled that Dr Sheehy Skeffington was discriminated against in a promotion round. It ordered NUIG to pay her €70,000, promote her and review its appointments system.

‘Horrified’

In a statement,

Ms Sheehy Skeffington

said that while she had no part in running the website, she was “horrified” to learn of an attempt to “shut down the campaign”. “The volunteers running the website tell me they’re not going to stop because of this. If NUI Galway do shut down their blog then they’ll use social media like

Facebook

to fight them.”

In response, NUIG said it was not seeking to curtail or shut down any website or campaign, but its seeking to ensure that “defamatory statements injurious to the university are withdrawn”.

Withdrawal

A spokeswoman said the university’s legal action seeks only the withdrawal of defamatory statements.

“While fully recognising the right to freedom of expression which social media enables, the university cannot allow defamatory statements to be made about its staff or practices, and will take all reasonable action to support this position,” NUIG’s spokeswoman added.

The university has moved in recent times to address the underrepresentation of woman at senior levels in the college by pledging to introduce mandatory gender quotas.

The move follows a decision by the university’s governing body to unanimously adopt the findings of a final report by a taskforce on gender equality. The move could have significant implications for other colleges and public sector employers.

Full professors

Women hold just over half of all of the lecturer posts at NUIG. However, this falls to 30 per cent at senior lecturer level and 10 per cent at associate professor level. Just 14 per cent are full professors.

A taskforce report, headed by Prof Jane Grimson, former vice-provost of Trinity College Dublin, made 24 recommendations aimed at promoting gender equality at the college.

Among the recommendations are that 40 per cent of members on all committees and working groups at NUIG should be women by the end of 2016, while 50 per cent of the chairs of these committees should be women by late 2018.