Philosopher Accuses Queen’s University of Intimidation Tactics

Adèle Mercier, associate professor of philosophy at Queen’s University, has accused the school of using “intimidation tactics to silence her and two other professors” since she complained about gender discrimination in her department in 2008. That year, after being approached by several female graduate students, she and two other female philosophy professors filed complaints with the university’s Human Rights Office. An external review found her allegations to be substantiated. Since then, she claims, the university administration has been trying to intimidate her and the other professors (for example, by involuntarily removing her from certain committees). As a result, she filed two human rights complaints to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, neither of which has yet been resolved. The story, which came to light when Mercier spoke about her experiences last week at a campus event, is in  The Journal, a Queen’s University publication.