Close X
Monday, November 25, 2024
ADVT 
National

Professor In Hearing-impaired Uproar Says Student Has 'Selective Amnesia'

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 24 Sep, 2015 12:45 PM
    ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — The professor involved in a controversy at Memorial University of Newfoundland says a hearing-impaired student who claims she failed to accommodate him has "selective amnesia."
     
    In a statement released to local radio station VOCM, history professor Ranee Panjabi says William Sears rejected her offer to discuss alternatives to the FM transmitter, which he said he needed to hear lectures.
     
    "I was completely taken aback as I am used to students being courteous enough to listen, not rebuff a discussion in that regrettable manner," Panjabi wrote in the signed letter dated Sept. 24.
     
    Panjabi says the third-year student abruptly walked out of class instead of letting her explain that the hearing device would not allow him to hear discussions involving classmates or videos shown as part of her instruction, leaving him at a disadvantage.
     
    "While Mr. Sears rebuffed any discussion with me — discussion that would have resolved this matter satisfactorily — he proceeded to provide his version — which regretfully displayed flashes of selective amnesia — to every media source he could garner."
     
    Panjabi notes she holds a law degree and says a 1996 agreement with the school allowing her to refuse to wear the device on religious grounds is binding.
     
    In her letter, Panjabi says she was "somewhat surprised" by Sears's request to wear the FM transmitter because they had previously conversed "quite normally" while he sat in the front row of the class and she sat in a chair behind a table.
     
    She also says the school's Blundon Centre for Students with Disabilities didn't properly inform her of the need for accommodation before Sears arrived at her class Sept. 10. 
     
    "Such accommodation would have required just about an hour of the student's time with our technical experts at Memorial to create a personalized learning environment that permitted him to benefit fully from the course."
     
    Panjabi, who has not answered repeated requests for comment, says her professional and personal reputation has been seriously damaged by the incident, which prompted the student union to stage a rally Wednesday in support of Sears.
     
    "I was reviled, vilified, abused, threatened and subject to a display of a lynch mob, a witch hunt and a three-ring circus," she wrote.
     
    Sears is pursuing a complaint with the Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Commission.
     
    The university has apologized to Sears and says it's reviewing how its accommodation procedures failed. University president Gary Kachanoski has said the 20-year-old deal with Panjabi is also under review.
     
    Panjabi says the university will set a "dangerous precedent" if it rescinds the agreement "simply to cater to the whims of the online hysterical mob that is howling for such action."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Elderly Indo-Canadian Woman Goes Missing In Surrey

    Elderly Indo-Canadian Woman Goes Missing In Surrey
    Mohinder Sodhi was reported missing on September 4 from her residence in the 6600 block of 127 A Street, Surrey

    Elderly Indo-Canadian Woman Goes Missing In Surrey

    Grizzly Bear Attack Survivors Thank B.C. Rescuers With Fundraiser

    Grizzly Bear Attack Survivors Thank B.C. Rescuers With Fundraiser
     A pair of British Columbia hunters recovering from a grizzly bear attack are taking extra steps to make sure their rescuers know just how thankful they are.

    Grizzly Bear Attack Survivors Thank B.C. Rescuers With Fundraiser

    RCMP Honours Fallen Officers, Including One Who Died From Tick Bite In 1968

    RCMP Honours Fallen Officers, Including One Who Died From Tick Bite In 1968
    The annual RCMP National Memorial Service has added two new names to a cenotaph in Regina that honours Mounties who died in the line of duty.

    RCMP Honours Fallen Officers, Including One Who Died From Tick Bite In 1968

    Calgary Bus Driver Jesse Rau Says He Wasn't Alone In His Opposition To Pride Bus

    Calgary Bus Driver Jesse Rau Says He Wasn't Alone In His Opposition To Pride Bus
    A transit driver who's been fired amid a controversy over Calgary's Pride bus says he wasn't alone in his reluctance to take the wheel of the rainbow-wrapped vehicle.

    Calgary Bus Driver Jesse Rau Says He Wasn't Alone In His Opposition To Pride Bus

    Hearing Delayed For High-Risk Designation Of Mentally Ill Dad Allan Schoenborn Who Killed 3 Kids

    Hearing Delayed For High-Risk Designation Of Mentally Ill Dad Allan Schoenborn Who Killed 3 Kids
    The province's Criminal Justice Branch announced last week it was initiating an application for the "high-risk" label for Schoenborn.

    Hearing Delayed For High-Risk Designation Of Mentally Ill Dad Allan Schoenborn Who Killed 3 Kids

    Quebec Will Send 5,000 Camp Beds And Blankets For Syrian Refugees In Germany

    Quebec Will Send 5,000 Camp Beds And Blankets For Syrian Refugees In Germany
    Public Security Minister Lise Theriault says the Red Cross requested the beds, which are left over from the ice storm that hit Eastern Canada in 1998.

    Quebec Will Send 5,000 Camp Beds And Blankets For Syrian Refugees In Germany