Dr Eric Descheemaeker, a law professor at the University of Melbourne, has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the university under the Fair Work Act. The case stems from a leaked 2023 email in which he criticised the institution for being influenced by what he called 'Blak' activists, leading it to 'destruction'.
The email, sent to the then dean of Melbourne Law School (MLS), Professor Matthew Harding, was leaked last month and posted around the university's Parkville campus. In it, Descheemaeker wrote that MLS was 'celebrating the noble savage' and likened it to an 'ideological re-education camp'. He also objected to the acknowledgment of Indigenous land and the teaching of Indigenous law.
Descheemaeker's application, filed in the Federal Court on 18 July, relates to section 351 of the Fair Work Act, which prohibits employers from taking adverse action against employees based on attributes such as race, colour, sex, or sexual orientation. During a court mention on 26 July, Judge Val Gostencnik ordered that the university must not terminate Descheemaeker's employment or take adverse action until an injunction application is heard in September.
The university commissioned a cultural safety review in 2023 after Indigenous academic Dr Eddie Cubillo resigned, describing MLS as 'the most culturally unsafe place I've worked'. MLS Dean Professor Michelle Foster said the university is investigating the leak and is committed to cultural safety. The university declined to comment on potential disciplinary action against Descheemaeker.
Descheemaeker joined MLS in 2017 and also holds an honorary position at the University of Oxford. His lawyer stated that he is unable to comment at this stage.
