Article content

By arguing that publishing peer-reviewed research conflicted with her role as an indigenous scholar, a former law professor has won her bid for a human rights tribunal hearing after losing her job at the University of British Columbia.

Lorna June McCue was denied tenure and ultimately dismissed after 11 years at the university in part because of her failure to submit a single piece of peer-reviewed research during that time.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Law professor argues in UBC human rights complaint that Indigenous scholars shouldn't have to publish peer-reviewed research Back to video

McCue has alleged that peer-reviewed research is contrary to indigenous oral traditions and that UBC’s research standard effectively discriminated against her “race, colour, ancestry, place of origin … and sex.”

The university’s demand for her to publish in academic journals “would require her to be a round peg in a square hole,” she told a preliminary tribunal hearing whose decision was published this month.

A round peg in a square hole

Lawyers for UBC, meanwhile, have argued that there is “nothing about indigeneity that prevents an indigenous person from having the capability of meeting the university’s requirements.”