A New Zealand court has decided that the University of Auckland violated its obligations to protect the prominent microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles from intensive abuse and harassment, which she has learned about the COVID-19 pandemic when providing public information. However, the court did not find that the University of Wiles' scientific freedom had suppressed when it recommended that it reduce her public comments to a minimum to reduce the nuisance.

worldwide is strongly discussed to what extent universities are responsible for this, Academics that are bothered by their work on their work .

The attacks on Wiles began in March 2020, shortly after she started to make comments on Covid-19 in the media and on social media. The attacks included insulting news on social media and by email, publishing Wiles personal data online and telephone calls. The events escalated to public confrontations and the damage to their home. In her complaint against the university, Wiles claimed that despite numerous efforts to support the abuse, the institution was "not useful", she said in a statement.

In her judgment, judge Joanna Holden from the New Zealand Labor Court decided that the university had violated its contractual obligations to protect the health and security of Wiles. She found that the university did not respond in good faith to the continuing abuse and that some of its reactions to Wiles worsened their stress. The judge also acknowledged that the Covid 19 pandemic was a challenging time and that the university tried to comply with its health and security obligations, even if they were ultimately inadequate. She ordered that the University of Wiles should pay for damages in the amount of NZ $ 20,000 (US $ 12,000). Relations Act is allowed, but no punishment against the university.

Wiles also claimed that the instructions from the university to reduce their public activities around Covid-19 were inconsistent with their and the obligations of the university-as part of Waitangi's contract, Māori, the indigenous peoples of New Zealand. However, the judge found that there was no violation of these obligations.

part of the job

One of the controversial topics was whether the activities from which the abuse went out, including Wiles' social media contributions and some public and media participation, were part of their work-the university argued that it was external activities. However, the judge found that Wiles' public Covid-19 comments were part of their work and that they were the goal of abuse.

Wiles, which is still employed by the University of Auckland, says that she feels confirmed by the decision, in particular by recognizing the judge that the media and public comments that she delivered during pandemic were actually part of her job. She told Nature that the most important section of the judgment for academics may be "that the provision of this expert comment is part of our work and that our employers have to keep us safely".

to the judge's determination that the University of Auckland had not suppressed the scientific freedom of Wiles by recommending her public comments to reduce the harassment, said Dawn Freshwater, Vice Chancellor of the University, in a statement that the judgment was important. It "will be well received by universities in New Zealand and all over the world," she said.

But Jack Heinemann, a geneticist at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand- who appeared as an expert for academic freedom for Wiles- says that Holden did not indicate this decision that labor law and security concerns could override academic freedom. "One does not raise the other," says Heinemann.

physicist Shaun Hendy, who originally submitted a complaint together with Wiles against the University of Auckland, but agreed on a comparison when he left the university for a new job, says that the judgment should be a warning for institutions to improve their game when it comes to dealing with harassment. Universities have to think about what good practice is to protect your staff when you work in media comments, he says.

at Nature According to the current strategy of the university to manage the health and security of the staff online, said a spokesman that the recommendations of an external security and security test had been implemented by mid-2023, which was carried out in 2021. The recommendations provided for additional support and resources for university employees who are exposed to harassment and threats.