Ontario’s Human Rights Tribunal has thrown out a complaint from a former Carleton student who alleged that one of his courses was offensive to men.
Ko Kuffuor said he’ll take his complaint “to the next level” after the tribunal dismissed his case.
Kuffuor is an actor who has been a stand-in on Battlestar Galactica, Stargate: SG1, and Scary Movie 4.
“Carleton is the worst university anyone could attend,“ Kuffuor said via email. “All the way to the top, I brought my concerns, and they acted as though the evidence wasn’t in front of them.”
Kuffuor’s case involved an escalated conflict with his masculinities studies professor, who the university declined to name, over the course’s material.
When Kuffuor told the professor the course content was racist and sexist towards men, the instructor asked Kuffuor to prove his argument over email.
Lengthy emails were exchanged, but Kuffuor said he sensed the debate was going in the wrong direction.
“When I realized something was wrong I removed myself from the conversation, with both of us agreeing it would end in the emails,” Kuffuor said.
Kuffuor said shortly after their agreement, the professor stopped him outside class and “attacked” him, saying Kuffuor’s argument about content was offensive to him.
After this encounter, Kuffuor looked for help within the university.
Ryan Flannagan, director of student affairs, said when a student has a complaint, the standard procedure is to “go to the chair of your department or program.”
Kuffuor said he contacted various staff at different levels and none were supportive of his case, including Flannagan.
“From then on, they created a poisoned environment where I was being bullied . . . even going so far as to tell me I should drop out,” he said.
In an email to Kuffuor, Flannagan said after reviewing email exchanges between Kuffuor and his instructor, he wouldn’t be allowed to attend class and if he did, campus security would be waiting to escort him.
“My job is to assess for risk and some of the language he was using was raising some flags for me in terms of the safety of the class and the professor,” Flannagan said.
Flannagan said once Kuffuor met with him to discuss his issues, he could return to class.
Kuffuor chose not to meet with the director.
“By this time I was so shaken up not only by the abuse at the hands of the social department . . . I didn’t feel safe doing so,” he said, adding that the whole process aggravated his depression and anxiety.
He took his complaints to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, representing himself.
In May, the tribunal ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to prove “discrimination on the basis of race, ancestry, ethnic origin, sex and reprisal or threat of reprisal,” according to the case decision.
Kuffuor applied for reconsideration, and in October the tribunal dismissed it saying there was “no reasonable prospect of success,” according to the reconsideration decision.
If Kuffuor pursues this further Flannagan said the university would employ their legal counsel, but until then, “it’s our position that the issue’s over and we’re moving on.”
“To be clear, the university doesn’t have any grudges against Mr. Kuffuor. He’s free to come back to the university and study here,” Flannagan said.
“It’s unfortunate that we went through this incident with him but all that we required was some communication.”
