Sent via email to: President@utoronto.ca, meric.gertler@utoronto.ca
CC: jchen@research.baycrest.org, cheryl.regehr@utoronto.ca, sandy.welsh@utoronto.ca, j.barker@utoronto.ca, charmaine.williams@utoronto.ca, yana.yunusova@utoronto.ca, thomas.kislinger@utoronto.ca, vpr@research.baycrest.org, m.stickel@utoronto.ca, wreichman@baycrest.org
March 28, 2022
Dear President Gertler,
I am writing this letter as my mind-blowing, unprecedented, inhuman situation, should change now and I am sharing my story with thousands of UofT members and will continue to do so until I get help on compassionate grounds. I don’t think any decent person reads my story and doesn’t agree that I should get help over this incredibly inhuman situation.
I am UofT’s Scholar-at-Risk fellow (awarded to me by the Dean of SGS, Prof. Barker) and a protected UofT Ph.D. student. Despite my excellent academic standing (formally proven by SGS), my Ph.D. supervisor, Dr. Jean Chen, kicked me out with dramatic hatred and shocking discrimination, just days after I confidentially informed her myself that I have gotten very ill with a serious illness (MS) and I have serious physical symptoms and need extra help due to illness. I told her about my medical condition, only based on her initial promises that she very certainly won't kick me out for my disability knowing my unique personal situation on top of it as well. But shockingly, she ruthlessly did it anyways with hate just days later. SGS itself has done an investigation and formally concluded my dismissal after disability was unfair and with “insufficient justification”, I did absolutely nothing wrong and I had “good academic standing”. Still, shockingly, SGS didn’t stop it and let it happen. This is unfair, illegal, a crime, and in stark violation of UofT policy and basics of human rights and morality and an international embarrassment for UofT given I am even protected as a Scholar-at-Risk student. Even my own Ph.D. is related to MS detection!
Sadly, my supervisor, knowing about my unique status and disability has resorted to unimaginable things and utmost inhuman actions including actions based on “hate” to damage me to the possible extent and make it as hard as possible for me to continue even after my inhuman dismissal to make sure I can’t continue my Ph.D. I believe her overall actions amount to “hate crime” and “targeted harassment and discrimination” against a Scholar-at-Risk fellow due to my disability.
Dean of SGS (Prof. Barker) and VP of Students (Prof. Welsh) have never agreed to meet me even once despite my countless requests for help and surprisingly have never agreed to even a fair investigation into my own complaints despite my countless requests and while UofT has an explicit policy to protect a student like me. I have seen nothing from UofT admins besides being inhuman, insulting, unresponsive, discriminatory, and irresponsible. Sadly, I strongly believe as I have a serious illness, I am an international student and have a super unique heartbreaking personal situation, UofT and Dr. Chen knowing all these, assume I can’t do anything to confront them and this situation is being abused in the utmost inhuman way to damage me further. Sadly, they (Dean of SGS specifically) constantly threaten me by inhuman misuse of their power and my heartbreaking disability that if I talk to anyone about my dismissal for disability (to get help) and my supervisor’s actions, I will get suspended and have repeatedly threatened me and have given me alleged illegal directions to not talk to anyone through any platform about my dismissal for disability, otherwise, I will get suspended. In an ultimate inhuman action, SGS Dean, Prof. Barker, by illegal misuse of his power, and upon Dr. Chen’s request to make sure I lose my Ph.D. out of hate, allegedly says I should go to a hearing (hearing means something like a court but it is in the University) because of the absurd inhuman allegation that I am politely asking my supervisor to at least give me back my personal belonging and files and help me move on. I have NO alternative and UofT is responsible for my life. Dr. Chen has never responded even once and I don’t know what to do and still don’t even know about my belonging and files including my medical documents. She just doesn’t respond ever and SGS is useless. Who in this world does this to a disabled student with a serious progressive autoimmune illness who is Scholar-at-Risk as well and is international and totally innocent according to SGS itself? This situation is a shame for UofT.
I am still in total shock and complete disbelief over this situation, because I used to have a very close and extremely friendly relationship with my supervisor before my disability started, to the point that I even just held her a birthday party in our lab, alone, 2 weeks before the start of my illness and I even myself paid for everything for her. She was publicly super proud of my Ph.D. by stating she hasn’t seen a student as motivated as me in her life. I fully trusted her and she also gave me her strongest possible promise (even in writing), at first, not to dismiss me after seeing I have gotten seriously ill, but she still did it anyways days later with hate and then completely stopped responding to me afterward, blocked me from everywhere and that was it! After illness, she has never responded to my requests even once to at least give me back my stuff despite my countless requests for just minor help and cooperation so that I can continue within my capacity to finalize my research that was already almost done. Out of hate, she has disclosed my illness to many without my permission so that I can’t find a new lab! has fully blocked and destroyed my remaining past research! Has given the rest to newly hired healthy students without even asking my permission! Doesn’t give me back even my own files and medical documents! has even refused to let anyone intervene, under compassionate reasons asking other people to not respond to me, apparently hoping as my illness is incurable and progressive I’ll eventually reach a point that I can’t even ask for help due to illness and I will stop being able to even send emails. Is this human, legal, and according to UofT policy? Is this the way you treat a Scholar-at-Risk student after he gets MS? Is this the way UofT values human rights?
I have a very unique personal situation at home, I am Scholar-at-Risk and with my serious illness on top of that, it is very hard for me to legally confront anyone or any entity like UofT. UofT and my supervisor should just help me. Out of my desperate need to find a way forward, I have asked my supervisor and many others countless times for a bit of help out of human reasons, but have never seen anything but unresponsiveness and more hatred. I am asking you, President Gertler, to use all the formal/informal tools at your disposal to fairly and independently look into my case, and my complaints and try to help me with all your power as UofT President. I am not looking much into revenge but I should just be treated in a very human way according to law and UofT policy and not with hatred and discrimination and also I should get helped so that I can finish my Ph.D. with a disability. My supervisor initially promised me this, but then backed down at the time of my direst need with UofT’s illegal permission. This is your moral and legal obligation and you can’t leave UofT’s Scholar-at-Risk fellow in this inhuman situation after disability.
Mahdi
Student Number# 1004214637
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Medical Biophysics