University of Cambridge whistleblower wins employment tribunal

An employment tribunal has ruled in favor of Professor Wyn Evans, a whistleblower at the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy. The tribunal found that the university attempted to shut down Evans’s complaints regarding systemic misogyny and the mistreatment of female staff to protect its own reputation.

Evans had raised concerns that senior faculty members were engaging in aggressive behavior and pressuring women out of their positions. The tribunal upheld 11 of 14 alleged detriments against the university and its leadership, concluding that the institution responded to his protected disclosures by subjecting him to a nearly two-year investigation that was deemed baseless and retaliatory.

The 162-page judgment described the university’s handling of the matter as “problematic and deeply unsatisfactory,” noting a pattern of extreme delays and opaque decision-making. The panel found that an institutional mindset developed which viewed Evans as a reputational risk rather than addressing the substance of his disclosures.