Forestry college instructor wasn't fired for views on glyphosate, judge rules

A forestry college instructor was fired because he was a "disruptive and destructive force" and not because of his views of the herbicide glyphosate, a New Brunswick judge has ruled.

Rod Cumberland's treatment of students and the "obvious toxicity" of his relationship with Maritime College of Forest Technology leaders led to his dismissal in June 2019, Court of King's Bench Chief Justice Tracey DeWare says in a 41-page decision.

In a trial last fall in Fredericton, the former instructor's lawyer suggested that members of the college board from the forest industry, including J.D. Irving Ltd., had pushed for the firing after Cumberland challenged government scientists on glyphosate at a seminar.

But DeWare said it was Cumberland's rigid teaching style and his rejection of a new, more "inclusive" style at the college that ended his job there.

"Mr. Cumberland was terminated from his position with the college as a result of his attitude and behaviours which rendered his continued employment impossible," DeWare wrote.

"Mr. Cumberland was not dismissed as a result of his views on glyphosate. Mr. Cumberland's termination was not engineered by J.D. Irving Ltd."

DeWare did, however, say that college executive director Tim Marshall and academic chair Gareth Davies failed to warn Cumberland that his job was in jeopardy and "did not address the problems head on."

That meant he had no opportunity to change his behaviour and was not fired with just cause.

"Given the rigidity of Mr. Cumberland's mindset, I find it unlikely that he could have adequately addressed their concerns if properly advised; however, he was never given the chance and he is therefore entitled to the benefit of the doubt," DeWare wrote.

She concluded that this entitled him to seven months' notice of his firing.

DeWare awarded him $48,644.57 in severance and also ordered the college to pay $6,700 toward his legal costs.

In an emailed statement, Cumberland's lawyer Paul Champ said the ruling "confirmed what Mr Cumberland had been saying all along, which was that there was not just cause to terminate his employment."

While the judge called the failure to warn Cumberland "sloppy," Champ called it "unfair treatment."

He also said his client was "understandably disappointed" with the rest of the judgment and repeated the allegation "that Irving was very much in the background here."