University lecturer sacked and branded 'misogynistic' after calling women 'females'

An employment tribunal found the university had not breached its free speech requirements by sacking Russell Cherrington

A university lecturer has been sacked and branded "misogynistic" after calling women in his class "females".

Russell Cherrington was working as a senior lecturer in film studies at the University of Derby when four students complained of his "misogynistic", "transphobic" and "divisive" language.

The lecturer took his case to an employment tribunal over unfair dismissal, claiming his remarks were protected by his free speech rights, enshrined in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

University of Derby staff became aware of the complaints when his course, Film and High End TV, scored poorly on the National Student Survey.

Complaints were made about Mr Cherrington, who taught second- and third-year students on the programme, leading to the lecturer's suspension on December 18, 2023.

A 2024 investigation into Mr Cherrington found several examples of "gross misconduct".

The employment tribunal found that he was misogynistic for "only, or almost exclusively, referred to women in the class as 'females'".

He also used "misogynistic" language while giving feedback on a student's music video by describing the main actress as "not attractive enough for the role".

Mr Cherrington did not deny both claims, but said he called pupils "females" because he did not know their names, and said he did not think describing the actress as not attractive was harmful.

The lecturer also did not deny that he told a student: "If you had worn that nail polish back in the day, you would have been called a p**f."

He was also alleged to have used "transphobic" language by describing a "a student who was transitioning as a 'troublesome trans kid'", the tribunal heard.

This remark was denied by Mr Cherrington, but the filmmaker said he did use an example of a student who was transitioning to suggest that he would help any student, regardless of background.

FREE SPEECH - READ MORE:

Also rejected by the filmmaker were claims he was "ableist" after he allegedly said universities were "becoming a care home for people with disabilities".

Mr Cherrington, who previously had a "previously unblemished disciplinary record", was dismissed in April 2024 over the "inappropriate and unprofessional language".

At the initial hearing, he provided a list of eight students who could "speak to his teaching and how he treated students", but they were not contacted by the university because the professor heading the panel "did not consider that he should weigh what might have been positive accounts of the appellant against the allegations of inappropriate and unprofessional language".

In May, he challenged his dismissal at an employment tribunal, but failed.

This led him to taking his case to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT), claiming his "academic freedom of expression" had been violated.

But EAT judge Mr Justice Cavanagh dismissed his appeal, finding that the ECHR does not "as a matter of course" need to be considered in every unfair dismissal case.

Dismissing other free speech complaints, the judge said: "The ET [employment tribunal] considered whether the appellant's dismissal was in breach of the university's freedom of speech obligations and decided that it was not.

"The ET was plainly well aware that the university had a duty to promote and protect freedom of speech for university employees.