York University continues to face allegations of anti-Black racism. It comes after a veteran staffer says she was terminated after raising concerns about the way she was being treated in comparison to her colleagues.
Lydia Dosu worked as an administrative assistant at the university for 24 years. Just a day before Black History Month this year, she was terminated.
“They no longer wanted me to step on campus. I had to arrange get my items removed myself. After 24 years, I was told to get out immediately,” she said in a virtual news conference Wednesday morning.
“It made me feel like a criminal. Coming to campus under the darkness and leaving without having the chance to say goodbye.”
Dosu’s termination comes after she filed a formal complaint to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario in 2019. The tribunal has yet to adjudicate on it. It alleges she faced discrimination and harassment at work, including being told by her supervisor to use a lesser title than her colleagues, even though she performed the same duties they did.
“York University described me as a health and safety risk because I have raised concerns about anti-Black racism,” Dosu said.
York University spokesperson Yanni Dagonas told Global News over email the university’s actions in Lydia’s case are in response to the results of a workplace harassment complaint investigation.
“Any suggestion the university’s actions are a result of criticism of the University is false and without merit,” Dagonas said.
Former York U social science professor Caroline Hossein says hearing Dosu’s story has “triggered her” and is “reminding (her) of the pains that she suffered” while she taught at the university.
“The real intense forms of exclusion and hostility started pretty much when I started. I was constantly being belittled by colleagues,” she tells Global News.
“It was a horrifying experience.”
Anti-Black racism has also been felt among students, according to the York Federation of Students.
President Adaeze Mbalaja says in 2022 the group planned a campus concert for a Black artist. They allege the university wanted to hire an unusual amount of police officers and security.
She says “an absurd amount of security; up to 64 security officers would need to be present to host the concert on campus.”
“At the end of the day, whether implicit or over or covert, anti-Black racism is baked into the fabric of York University and it needs to be addressed.”
Mbalaja adds it is difficult to know how many reports of anti-Black racism there are because the university does not currently keep track of that data.
The university tells Global News in part in regards to the concert, “when approached by YFS to host a concert on campus in September, York identified a need for robust security measures in order for the concert to proceed safely.”
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