A University of British Columbia creative writing professor testified she later wrote policies after signing off on an incomplete master’s thesis linked to Steven Galloway’s defamation lawsuit.
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A University of British Columbia creative writing professor says she wrote policies about how master’s theses are completed after she regretfully signed off on unfinished graduate work for a student who later accused author Steven Galloway of sexual assault.
Annabel Lyon told the court Wednesday that she served as a “second reader” for the student’s thesis and that the woman, identified only as A.B. due to a publication ban, submitted a 144-page portion of a novel in July 2015.
Lyon said she was uncomfortable agreeing to accept the unfinished work so the student could graduate, but deferred to the thesis supervisor, Keith Maillard.
The professor also testified she never actually read the unfinished thesis and said she would have read it when it was complete, an offer she said still stands while she regrets signing off “to this day.”
Both Lyon and Maillard were named as defendants when Galloway filed his defamation lawsuit, first launched in 2018, but they are no longer parties to the legal action.
In the lawsuit, Galloway is seeking damages alleging his career was destroyed by the sexual assault allegations, which were found unsubstantiated by a retired judge hired by UBC to investigate.
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