Allard scolds students planning to share peers’ alleged public health order infractions with employers

The Allard School of Law Career Services Office emailed students on Tuesday about “one or more” second-year students compiling a spreadsheet of their peers’ alleged violations of public health orders.

Addressed to second-year law students, or 2Ls, the email comes ahead of the competitive recruiting period for summer internships.

“While it is absolutely frustrating to see people skirt public health orders, public shaming of this nature is completely inappropriate and unlikely to lead to increased accountability or change in behavior,” the email said. UBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Wednesday, the Career Services Office (CSO) sent another email saying first years, or 1Ls, appear to be “involved or are responsible” with the aim of disrupting 2022 recruitment for 2Ls this fall.

The Allard CSO helps employers hire Allard students.

Province-wide COVID-19 restrictions have been in effect since November 2020 and will remain in place until February at the earliest. BC has banned social gatherings and in-person events with few exceptions.

Signed by five staff members, the email said that sharing peer personal information without permission “crosses both ethical and professional boundaries.” It urged those involved to destroy the spreadsheet and avoid sharing it with other students or external organizations.

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The office said a well-being counsellor was available for students who found the email “distressing.”

“Aside from satisfying a vigilante urge, there is nothing helpful that comes from such a spreadsheet,” the email continued.

“You are all part of a community (both at Allard, and more broadly, within the legal profession), and are reminded of the importance of treating each other with kindness, compassion, deference, and professionalism. Failing [to] do so will reflect poorly, and can have long-lasting consequences to your reputation within the profession.”

This article has been updated to include a second email the CSO sent about 1Ls and reflect that 1Ls had the intent of disrupting recruitment for 2Ls this fall.

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