After a lengthy fight over Langara College’s decision to fire Dr. Natalie Knight for comments she made at a pro-Palestine rally in October 2023, an arbitrator has ruled in her favour. Randy Noonan sided with the Langara Faculty Association, which argued the dismissal breached the Collective Agreement and violated provincial and federal rights, as well as the college’s own principles.
The case went to arbitration in late October and early November for a planned ten-day hearing. Arbitrator Noonan has now concluded that Langara wrongfully dismissed Dr. Knight. He ordered her reinstated retroactively to January 26, 2024, and ordered the university to compensate her in full, including financially.
In his decision, Noonan wrote that the college was required to “strike a proportionate balance” between its legal obligations, the facts, and Charter protections. But after extensive discussions with both sides, he noted that the parties ultimately agreed the college “failed to do so.”
“The finding by the arbitrator to reinstate me and make me whole, signals that the college was completely at fault,” said Dr. Natalie Knight to The North Star in an exclusive interview about the case.
She was suspended with pay for twelve weeks after comments she made at a pro-Palestinian rally in October 2023. A few days after her suspension ended, she participated in another action organized by United in Struggle on the Langara campus. It was following this that she was fired on January 26, 2024.
United in Struggle is a working class organization, which, at the time, was co-chaired by Dr. Knight.
Dr. Knight explains that the arbitrator found that “the political implications of the kind of speech I was engaged in, the pro-Palestine political speech and the expression of support for the Palestinian struggle for liberation, is acceptable.”
Dr. Knight’s comments and leave of absence caused quite a stir after being reposted and used in various statements and publications by several pro-Israel and Zionist social media accounts and pressure groups. These include the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), a Canadian pro-Israel lobby.
Selina Robinson, then British Columbia’s provincial Minister of Post-Secondary Education, retweeted one of these CIJA press releases published on January 24, 2023. In this release, several prominent members of the group expressed their disappointment with the college’s hiring of Dr. Knight and stated that they had requested a meeting with the college administration.
In a since-deleted tweet from January 25, 2025, Robinson stated: “I have met with @langaracollege leadership to express my concerns for the Langara and broader communities.”
A day later, Dr. Knight position at Langara was terminated.
“They are a lobby group, and it appears like they’re pretty good at that. So, I would be shocked if they weren’t putting a lot of pressure on the college,” speculated Dr. Knight.
The decision also notes that comments made by former minister Selina Robinson could reasonably be seen as an attempt to sway Langara’s decision. Arbitrator Noonan wrote that it was “understandable” for the faculty union to raise concerns that her remarks may have “improperly influenced” the firing.
“We have secured a critical victory in overturning an unjust termination that was tainted by ministerial interference,” celebrated Michael Conlon, Executive Director of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC (FPSE) in a press release. “Langara abused its power and acted impulsively while ignoring key principles of natural justice and procedural fairness when it terminated Dr. Knight’s employment.”
Dr. Knight affirmed the union’s statement and added: “I hope that the outcome of this case encourages others to stand their ground, or step forward if they haven’t already, and stand alongside Palestinians and all exploited and oppressed people around the world […] I think it’s important to pay attention when there are relatively small but still meaningful victories within our broad people’s movement, and this is one of them.”
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