May 23, 1997 - Liam Donnelly - a podcast by Stephen Hammond

University swim coach wrongfully loses his job for sexual harassment.On May 23, 1997, Simon Fraser University (SFU) fired swim coach Liam Donnelly for “severe sexual harassment” against student Rachel Marsden. Right from the start, the case was a disaster, thanks to university officials not following proper procedures, and the university trying to back peddle numerous times. As a result, Donnelly ended up being rehired and Marsden awarded $12,000 for counselling and other expenses. Meantime, SFU President John Stubbs ended up leaving the university along with almost $300,000 in severance pay. The university, after footing Donnelly’s $60,000 legal bills and watching its name dragged across provincial and national papers, wisely decided to conduct a formal review of its harassment and discrimination cases. Eventually, the institution underwent an extensive and expensive process to change its harassment policy, to ensure such mistakes and headlines would not occur again.

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