A B.C. Human Rights Tribunal member has dismissed a complaint against the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) by a former professor who alleged he was unjustly dismissed because of a mental disability.
In February 2006, UNBC told Dr. Siamak Rezaei, who was on a tenure-track position as an associate professor in the computer science program, it had decided not to renew his appointment for another three years because his behaviour was "disruptive" and "negatively affected" the program and "followed a pattern over time."
Slightly more than a year later, after Rezaei refused to sign a letter of resignation that would have given him a leave of absence and a payment, he "became aware, for the first time, of the possibility that he suffered from a mental disability" that may have caused his behaviour, writes tribunal member Murray Geiger-Adams in his reasons for decision, issued May 13.
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