It has emerged that for years, there has been a culture of fear and abuse of power surrounding the two. In addition, the university states that the duo breached academic integrity by manipulating data and wrongfully ‘appropriating research material from third parties’.

There is no evidence of plagiarism and sexual transgressive behaviour, said Board president Annetje Ottow on Thursday.

Staff and students were intimidated, discriminated against, manipulated, shouted at, bullied, laughed at and mocked by the professor and their partner (who no longer works at Leiden University). The two abused their position of power, openly questioned the quality of employees and disparaged their work.

Ottow refused to specify at which faculty the two worked. ‘As an employer, it is standard practice not to reveal the identity. We have never done so in the past either.’ The professor has previously held administrative positions within the faculty.

MISSED SIGNS 

In late 2022, the first reports reached the dean of the faculty in question. Shortly after, the dean informed the Executive Board. In September 2023, the Board put together a committee – consisting of Leiden professors and a former professor – to investigate the case under the direction of associate professor of dismissal law Yvonne Erkens. The committee spoke to a total of 19 informants: current and former staff as well as current and former students.

‘The committee found that the behaviours were so serious that they have caused the informants great harm both on a personal and professional level’, says Ottow. ‘This is highly distressing.’

The investigation revealed that the first incidents took place as early as 1990, says Ottow. According to the committee, there had been earlier reports of the duo’s abuse, but those signs were ignored at the time. The investigators were unable to determine why those complaints were not taken seriously.

NO LONGER WELCOME

The reason why the informants decided to raise the alarm with the dean in late 2022, according to Ottow, is ‘because they felt safe enough due to the way in which the Board handled the previous case’ (similar misconduct by astronomer Tim de Zeeuw that came to light in October 2022, Ed.).

‘The Board considers this case to be so serious that we have decided to take it to the subdistrict court to terminate the professor’s employment contract’, says Ottow. ‘If this is upheld by the court, it will lead to dismissal and the person will no longer carry the title of professor.’ In any case, both the professor and the partner, who were given the chance to respond to the allegations – ‘but I can’t go into any further detail about that’ – are permanently barred from the university.

The committee has ‘urged’ the Board to release the report to the public. The informants themselves also find it ‘imperative for the report to be made public’, says Ottow. They want to use the report to support their case. ‘However, they do wish to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions in their future careers. This is a deep-seated fear.’

A VERY INTENSE MEETING

The Board will shortly publish the anonymised report on the university website. ‘That is a deviation from the approach taken in similar cases in the past,’ says Ottow. The report on the misconduct of astronomer De Zeeuw, who has since been removed, has still not been made public.

On Thursday morning, Ottow spoke to the 19 informants for the first time. ‘That was a very intense meeting’, says Ottow. ‘I am shocked and deeply affected by this. We want to learn from this and send a signal to the community that we are taking this very seriously and taking action against it.’