You do understand that the supposed genesis of this (in Mr. Brain's own words) was that he filed an ethics complaint about his boss because she decided to reassign some office space he wasn't using anymore?
In what world do you think that this sort of behavior is remotely acceptable? How would you feel if a co-worker filed a harassment claim against you (which could have serious career consequences for you) for moving their lunch bag in the office refrigerator? That's basically what he did. Being allowed to resign was letting him off easy; at most universities he could have been terminated for cause.
Again: Mr. Brain put a colleague's career in jeopardy over office space. Think about that really hard before you comment again.
> he filed an ethics complaint about his boss because she decided to reassign some office space he wasn't using anymore?
Where do you see that in[0]? In July, they wanted to take the EEP[1] (a program he ran for many years and was passionate about) meeting room for a new faculty member, and then somehow in September they decided to cancel the EEP program once he started complaining. He kept complaining until they ended up firing him (forced resignation) in October.[2]
[2]"“You have three options: 1) Retirement, 2) Discontinuation, or 3) Separation. By
continuing to argue I will take the path of "Discontinuation." "Discontinuation" means we
will not renew your contract. By the end of business on Wednesday I will notify the
university and the I&E team that the end of the semester is your last day. Everything ends
at the end of the semester. To retire and to avoid "Discontinuation" you must send me
your letter of resignation before the end of business Wednesday. If you prolong your
argument I will make the "Separation" effective Wednesday, your email will be cut off, your
office will be inaccessible, you will not finish the courses this semester. Everything ends
Wednesday. To avoid an immediate separation you must not engage in the argument. If
we agree to an amicable separation and you begin to argue later it will trigger an
immediate separation.”"
> After 14 years of outstanding leadership as head of our Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Dan Stancil will be stepping down from his position.
I’ve seen other very small bureaucracies who attract people who are great at politicking but are basically essentially evil and use the position for sadism every chance they get.
Wow, this is particularly disconcerting after seeing their No Retaliation clause in that thread. If they aren't willing to deal with ethics complaints in a non-prejudicial manner, then they shouldn't have such a policy.
somehow in September they decided to cancel the EEP program once he started complaining
The EEP program was not cancelled...Brain was simply removed from the program.
It is borderline gaslighting for him to claim that the EEP program was cancelled simply because he was no longer a part of it.
If he had filed an unmerited ethical complaint like this at a UC school like Cal or UCLA, he'd have been terminated for cause without the option of retiring gracefully (this actually happened to a professor at Berkeley while I was there).
Notably: it's been over a week since his death and none of his colleagues are defending him. There's no drama on campus from students despite the supposed injustice. The only people keeping this alive are a handful of people who liked his website. And that's because...there's more to the story than just the one-sided version of it people are parroting on the internet.
"Hey Brain, we want to use this space for <Thing>"
His response is to insist that they do not "need" the space, that "need" is a LIE, and that LIE requires an ethics inquiry!
What the shit? He then does the exact same thing for the email about them not recommending students for his program. "ABET says we aren't good enough, and your program is part of that, so we are going to go in a different direction" and again his reaction is insane!
"“Marshall - my colleague, my confidant, my advisor, my friend - you are over the line." He calls this retaliation!
Imagine going to your boss's boss, and nitpicking every single word of their communication to you, and then when he says "Hey uh you're a little out of your lane here" doubling down!
Now imagine believing it is unethical for your boss's boss to tell you that you are out of line! Imagine keeping your job after being such an unmitigated ass to an entire department and insisting you cannot possibly be wrong like human communication is some sort of logic system!
Sure is funny how much context has been removed from that email too!
Marshall Brain killed himself because he couldn't deal with perfectly valid college/educator administrative interaction! Poor guy must have lost his marbles.
> at most universities he could have been terminated for cause
Is that really true? In my country, there are employment laws to prevent the suffering of detriment post reporting of an incident, grievance, or violation, even if (especially if) the claim is found baseless.
It’s important for these regulations to exist because without them some people fear reporting true problems as they may lose their job, and the wrongdoers do more wrong in such a culture.
Processes should deal with baseless, frivolous, or even vexatious claims far in advance of any consideration of termination of employment.
But I’m clueless on US labor laws, apart from a general suspicion they’re relatively thin.
