January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Special report
Long, painful fight nearly over
In 1976, he swam around the island and raised $11,000 for the Bermuda Physically Handicapped Association, a feat that earned him a mention in the Guinness Book of Records.
That was nothing compared to the test of endurance that has consumed his life for the past seven years — fighting to get a fair hearing from the Bermuda College after he was fired out of the blue in 2003 for “gross misconduct” for allegedly making racist comments.
The Bermuda College continued to dig its heels in, even after the Bermuda Sun, in a 2004 exposé, raised questions about the credentials of his accuser Abdallah Ahad, who was later to be fired from his job as an education officer.
In July of this year, an arbitration hearing, for which Dr. O’Connell had been pushing for seven years, finally took place. The three-member arbitration panel produced its report on September 16. It ruled that Dr. O’Connell had been wrongfully dismissed. It found no evidence that he had made racist remarks and was highly critical of college procedures and the actions of three top officials, including former president Dr. Michael Orenduff.
The panel also agreed that a memo written by Dr. Orenduff was defamatory but said Dr. O’Connell was not entitled to damages in that instance.
This week, Dr. O’Connell said he was “elated” by the ruling. “My reputation has been restored,” he said.
He expressed disappointment that he was denied damages for defamation, saying: “To me, it seems like a way of dodging responsibility, a legal ploy that allows people to get away with their carelessness despite hurting other people unjustly.”
And of the personal toll of the case, he said: “The whole thing destroyed my life, ruined my career and caused untold anguish to me and Celia, my wife.
“Most other people would have been crushed by this, emotionally and financially,” he said, adding that the same characteristic that enabled him to swim around the island had seen him through.
“I am doggedly determined, “ he said. “I will not surrender.”
Dr. O’Connell also expressed thanks to his lawyer Liz Christopher (who was a former philosophy student of his at the Bermuda College).
Ms Christopher is a criminal lawyer, but told the Bermuda Sun she took on the case as a “labour of love”. She said it was Dr. O’Connell who had inspired her to take her first degree in philosophy.
She said of the arbitrators’ ruling: “They spoke with total clarity about Dr. O’Connell and the way he was treated at the college. He did absolutely nothing wrong. For seven years they made it difficult for him. They tried to obscure the truth from coming out. It [the ruling] was a total vindication of his character.”
Asked about the arbitrators’ criticism of the college’s procedures, Ms Christopher observed they were a “a total mess… All it required was a fair hearing,” she said. “You don’t need a degree in law to establish when someone needs a fair hearing.”
The battle is not over yet for Dr. O’Connell. A second panel has to meet to decide on the amount of monetary damages he should receive, but the college is now appealing the extent of damage (Dr. O’Connell is seeking four years’ salary but the college disagrees) and the ruling that he is entitled to full legal costs.
Ms Christopher said the college is not appealing the wrongful dismissal ruling or “any facts of substance”.
Dr. O’Connell called on the college to accept the panel’s findings “with good grace instead of dragging it on interminably. No one deserves to be treated like this. It borders on insanity…
“Dragging it on even further is more anguish. There is no closure yet.”
And he added: “What sort of example is this for young Bermudians? These actions are a disgrace to the ideals of education.”
In June 2003, Dr. O’Connell was 61-years-old with four years left until retirement when he was dismissed by the college. He was very active in college affairs during his 29 years as a lecturer and had served as chair of the mathematics department and chair of the Faculty Association. He also chaired a Race Relations Improvement Committee established at the college in 2000 and was its only white member.
A policeman’s son, he was born in New York, where he embarked on nine years of studies to become a Jesuit priest before eventually deciding against the priesthood. He graduated summa cum laude from Fordham University with a major in maths and a minor in philosophy and went on to earn a master’s degree from Fordham and later a PhD in mathematics from the City University of New York.
He joined the staff of the Bermuda College in 1974. He is an Irish citizen and a long-term Bermuda resident.
He also spoke of his disappointment at seeing the career he loved so much cut short when he was so close to retirement. He added: “The students were cheated out of a dedicated professor who had so much to give.”
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