The Dereliction of Due Process
I was cancelled in April 2021 by two ex-partners and 23 professionals from the Scala community over allegations which were shocking to the people who read them. The allegations, in two blog posts and an “Open Letter”, were not true.
These publications had a devastating effect on me, on my career, and on my personal life, which I wrote about last week, and which I have barely started recovering from. There was probably lasting damage done to the Scala Community too.
The author recounts being “cancelled” in April 2021 by two ex-partners and 23 Scala community members over false allegations, published without warning or a chance to respond. He describes prior vague rumors, a fruitless employer-led investigation that found no misconduct, and interactions with community figures who offered no specifics. The cancellation, he argues, violated every principle of due process, resembling Kafka’s The Trial in its secrecy and lack of evidence. He disputes claims that serious allegations were reported years earlier, questions how they changed over time, and urges signatories of the Open Letter to reconsider, stressing the need for fairness and justice.
Not one of the 23 authors of the Open Letter spoke to me about it, or the allegations within it, before or after publication. I neither saw nor heard the allegations until they were public.
