An accusation that a life fellow bullied and harassed a junior female colleague has been deemed “well founded” by Gonville & Caius College. 

Joe Herbert, 86, a professor of neuroscience, was accused of “unwanted behaviour in the form of bullying and harassment related to the protected characteristic of sex” by his colleague, Bronwen Everill, during discussions on the College’s controversial slavery report.

The accusation was deemed “well founded” by the College grievance committee after witnesses confirmed that Herbert behaved in a sexist and belittling way towards Everill, who was in charge of overseeing the report. 

Herbert’s behaviour included repeated “shushing” in a tense meeting in which he objected to the College’s recently published slavery report. He also allegedly said: “sit down woman”, “shut up” and “you’re not in charge here” to Everill. 

Despite supposedly silencing her during the meeting, he sent an email after the altercation saying: “you are clearly avoiding any rational discussion and one can only draw an obvious conclusion from that”.

In a different email, he also wrote: “I told you to shut up because you were shrieking at me. You weren’t attempting to say anything. Do you still refuse a decent conversation?”

It is understood that Herbert does not deny the “spat” –  as he perceives it – took place, although he does not believe he is a misogynist, telling the grievance committee “I don’t think the term woman is a term of abuse, is it?”. 

The College has proposed that he offers an apology to Everill. However, Varsity understands they are not taking any disciplinary action beyond this.

Herbert is well established at the College. He sat on the College’s main governing body and a finance committee last term.

He has also published successful books such as The Minder Brain (2008) and Testosterone: sex, power and the will to win (2015). 

Though he supervises second-year Medicine students, it is unclear whether Professor Herbert will continue teaching at the College next year. 

The slavery report has now been published on the College website (6/8) after pressure from academics on Twitter who spoke out against delaying the publication of the research. 

It concluded that: “Caius alumni, fellows, and the College had significant connections to slavery and slaveholders and have profited off investments and benefactions connected to enslavement and coerced labour.”

Professor Herbert and Gonville & Caius College declined to comment.