Already a subscriber?An economics professor has claimed he was the victim of ageism after the University of Melbourne sacked him for “inappropriate behaviour, including sexual misconduct” with a student in her early 20s.
The university sacked Mr Martin last year after making findings against him for serious misconduct, including multiple allegations of inappropriate behaviour andThe investigation was sparked by a 23-year-old student who complained about Mr Martin’s alleged behaviour with her in 2021 and 2022. He claims the university knew of some of the alleged conduct as far back as early 2017 but never reprimanded him or advised him of it until more than five years later.While his application and statement of claim did not specify the alleged behaviour, the documents revealed the most recent incident involved Mr Martin lunching with the student over wine at La Spaghettata restaurant and meeting her in parks.
He claimed his entire correspondence with the student was confined to five areas: her studies; organising two lunches and four meetings; advice for her friend on maths courses; food and recipes; and “talking about pussycats”.The university’s substantiation of his other allegedly inappropriate behaviour with students was implausible, he argued.
An alleged victim in a November 2019 incident, which took place at a Papa Gino’s pizza restaurant, was also not interviewed, he said.