CAA reacts to judgment of Employment Tribunal in David Miller case
Today, the Bristol Employment Tribunal has published its judgment in the case of the University of Bristol’s termination of Prof. David Miller.
David Miller, an academic obsessed with anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, was fired by the University of Bristol in 2021 one month after Campaign Against Antisemitism commenced a lawsuit on behalf of students against the institution.
Prof. Miller later sued the University, and the Bristol Employment Tribunal has today handed down its judgment.
Our lawsuit related to Prof. Miller’s speech on a Zoom webinar in which he said that the “Zionist Movement” is “the enemy” that must be engaged, that it is “the enemy of world peace,” and that those associated with Zionism, including Jewish students on Bristol campus, “must be directly targeted”.
Taken together, the implication of Prof. Miller’s remarks is that all decent people who support “world peace” should view Bristol Jewish Society and the Union of Jewish Students, and Jewish people, including those who identify with those bodies, and the vast majority of Jewish students as an “enemy” that must be “directly targeted”.
He also said that interfaith work between Jewish and Muslim groups is “a trojan horse for normalising Zionism in the Muslim community”. He also claimed that Jewish students, by virtue of being Zionist, “encourage Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism”.
Prof. Miller has a long record of inflammatory statements about the Jewish community.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Until this case, the exact reasons for Prof. David Miller’s sacking by the University of Bristol were kept from the public. It is now clear that, despite its adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism, Bristol’s failure to recognise that Prof. Miller’s comments constituted antisemitism, as well as its failure to consider some of his most egregious comments, opened the way for today’s judgment. But even so, the tribunal found that Prof. Miller’s misconduct was ‘extraordinary and ill-judged’ and deserving of disciplinary action, albeit that it did not warrant dismissal. He was found to be ‘culpable and blameworthy’, and, if he had been fired for the right reasons, the result today may have been different.
“Importantly, the tribunal drastically slashed Prof. Miller’s compensation , including due to his behaviour since being dismissed, which the tribunal found led to a ‘realistic chance that the claimant would have been dismissed’ anyway.
“We are deeply concerned by the way in which the University of Bristol has handled this matter over the course of years. We hope and expect that Bristol will appeal this decision. We are considering the matter with our lawyers.”
If any students are concerned about antisemitism on campus or need assistance, they can call us on 0330 822 0321, or e-mail [email protected].
