The court overturned the reprimands handed down to a teacher at the Perm Medical Academy for promoting creationism

On May 31, the justice of the peace of the judicial district N 21 of Perm, Z. Kovina, satisfied the claim of N. Garyaeva, canceling two reprimands issued to her in December 2006.

The leadership of the Perm Medical Academy issued a reprimand to Professor N. Garyaeva for taking part in the filming of an advertising video for the New Testament church, using the premises of the academy for this. The second reprimand was for promoting creationism at a meeting of a student circle.

In court, representatives of the Medical Academy could not explain which job descriptions N. Garyaeva violated. Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs M. Zarivchatsky said that the video with the participation of N. Garyaeva caused damage to the academy, but he did not explain what this damage was. Moreover, it turned out that he himself had not seen this video.

Deputy Dean O.Ivanenko, who was present at the meeting of the student circle, said that during the meeting, N.Garyaeva was shown excerpts from the film, where "a man who looks like a priest" criticized the theory of evolution. At the trial, this passage was demonstrated, and it turned out that this person was actually the scientist Roger Oakland. There was no mention of the "New Testament" church in the film.

The court found that both reprimands were issued in violation of applicable labor laws. The exact rationale for the decision will be known on June 8 after the announcement of the motivational part.

After the reprimands were issued, the academy held a competition for the position of the head of the department, where the candidacy of N. Goryaeva was failed, and after that the professor was fired. "Now that the reprimands have been declared illegal by the court, the legitimacy of such elections is doubtful, and the actions of the academy's leadership are unworthy," notes . the Slavic Legal Center

Sources

• The court canceled the reprimands issued by the Perm Medical Academy against Professor Nadezhda Garyaeva, allegedly for promoting her religious beliefs // Slavic Legal Center. 2007. May 31.