Associate professor Susanne Täuber will appeal against her dismissal, which will take effect from 1 May. “I feel an obligation to it.”
Täuber says he was fired after a critical publication about the inequality of opportunities for women at the university. According to the RUG, the conflict has been going on for much longer. The case went to court, which ruled that the university may fire the lecturer, an expert in the field of social insecurity.
Petition against dismissal signed 3500 times
The departure of Täuber leads to a lot of criticism and protest. Both during the demonstration on 8 March and during the occupation of the Academy Building last Wednesday, attention was drawn to this. Chairman of the board Jouke de Vries was handed a petition on March 21, which was signed 3500 times. One of the demands is that the dismissal be reversed.
A crowdfunding campaign has also been set up to finance an appeal by Täuber. To date, this has raised almost 26,000 euros. Täuber says he feels obliged to appeal. “It has to be because of the shocking precedent. My academic colleagues in the Netherlands and abroad are totally shocked by what is happening here. It is unheard of for a permanent scientist to be fired because of critical publications. This ruling is seen as a license for universities to get rid of critical scientists. Colleagues at Oxford Business School have informed me that they will use my resignation as a case study in their lectures. Colleagues from abroad say they no longer want to work with the University of Groningen.”
Is it possible to return to the faculty?
“I want my job back and to be able to work safely. At the moment, that faculty is unsafe and discriminatory. The faculty I come from has been proven unsafe for certain groups of employees. I was informed by several colleagues in the faculty that they do not dare to sign the petition for fear of reprisals, for which they apologized to me. But that is of course exactly the purpose of my case, to frighten others so that they are no longer allowed to speak out.
And there is a place, according to a letter submitted in the Ukrant of the Center for Gender Studies in which twelve scientists stand up for her. “We stand in solidarity with Dr. Täuber and her resignation represent a loss for the RUG’s intellectual, scientific and educational community. We hope that the university board will reconsider, as Täuber’s expertise is a welcome addition to the Center for Gender Studies and the minor gender and diversity. In short, there is a place for Dr. Täuber at this university, namely in the field of gender studies at the Faculty of Arts.’
