A human resources professor sacked by an Australian university four days before Christmas, and six days after he had complained about the institution to Victoria¡¯s anti-discrimination commission, has claimed he lost his job over a tweet.

Andrew Timming said his 21 December dismissal by RMIT University was the culmination of an escalating campaign against him following what he considered an inconsequential tweet a year earlier.

Professor Timming was fired after disputing what he claimed was a near-doubling of his teaching workload. On 13 December the university launched an investigation of his refusal to accept work directions, and a week later found him guilty of ¡°serious misconduct¡±.

He was summoned to a disciplinary meeting the following day, when he was sacked and his access to RMIT¡¯s computer network was cancelled. He was told he could collect his personal belongings and computer files under the supervision of security staff.

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Professor Timming, a self-declared conservative and founding member of the Free Speech Union¡¯s Australian chapter, has appealed the dismissal to RMIT and the Fair Work Commission (FWC).

He said RMIT spent months trying to get rid of him after a December 2022 tweet went viral. Administrators ¡°went ballistic¡± after he lodged a grievance last May alleging that RMIT had violated the university¡¯s intellectual freedom policy by threatening disciplinary action over the tweet, he says.

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In December, after he accused an RMIT executive of ¡°tampering with evidence¡± in a public interest disclosure to Victoria¡¯s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, events unfolded rapidly.

¡°There was no way they could keep me in the workplace at that stage because I could simply collect more information just by talking to people,¡± Professor Timming said. ¡°They just went with whatever excuse they could come up with.¡±

RMIT has declined to comment, saying it does not discuss individual staff matters. Professor Timming claimed the university¡¯s earlier actions included attempting to sack him on health grounds, standing him down for over four months, terminating his position as a deputy dean and forcing him to abandon two research projects by withdrawing his Department of Defence security clearance.

He said all this began following a social media spat between accused human trafficker Andrew Tate and environmental activist Greta Thunberg, during which Ms Thunberg derided the size of Mr Tate¡¯s penis. In a tweet, Professor Timming observed that ¡°demeaning sexual jokes¡± appeared fair game when directed from women to men, but not the other way around.

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¡°Maybe in retrospect it was controversial, but that¡¯s neither here nor there,¡± he said. ¡°Academics have a right to be offensive and shocking. It¡¯s part of our role. We¡¯re encouraged by our universities to engage in public debate. It¡¯s called impact.

¡°I decided to delete my Twitter account¡­thinking that would pacify the university and maybe keep my job. Obviously it didn¡¯t.¡±

In a document lodged with the FWC, RMIT says it took no ¡°adverse action¡± against Professor Timming and that some of his allegations have already been examined in the FWC and elsewhere. ¡°The respondent [RMIT] does not intend to address these matters in detail¡­as [they] have no bearing upon¡­the respondent¡¯s decision to terminate the applicant¡¯s employment.

¡°Even if the respondent contravened the Fair Work Act as alleged, which is expressly denied¡­reinstatement would not be appropriate given the total loss of trust and confidence between the parties.¡±

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john.ross@timeshighereducation.com