By Maggie Macintosh | Winnipeg Free Press
The University of Manitoba is suing its former law school dean to recover hundreds of thousands of public dollars he spent upgrading his resumé with U.S. Ivy League college courses, joining members-only clubs and covering personal bills.
Jonathan Black-Branch’s five-year deanship at Robson Hall was cut short in 2020 when an internal investigation found he had mismanaged and misused both operating and endowment funds.
Those findings were shared with the Law Society of Manitoba. The regulatory college later disbarred Black-Branch — who is believed to be living in the U.K. — after a panel concluded disciplinary hearings against him earlier this year.
A new lawsuit is accusing Black-Branch of misspending $660,944.60 and scheming to evade oversight.
“The defendant knowingly pursued a course of fraudulent, reckless, deliberate and high-handed conduct,” states an excerpt from a statement of claim filed in Manitoba Court of King’s Bench last week.
The document, dated Aug. 12, states the former dean has been “unjustly enriched” by committing fraud and his former employer has suffered “a corresponding deprivation.”
The expenses in question are wide-ranging, from a $75,000 donation to a foundation Black-Branch ran — the International Society of Law and Nuclear Disarmament, better known as ISLAND — to internet services at his residence in Oxford.
U of M is seeking all of the funds that were misspent, as well as damages to recognize the defendant’s breach of fiduciary duties and trust, and “punitive and/or exemplary damages.”
Lawyers Jeff Hirsch and Miranda Grayson of Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP are representing the university.
Hirsch deferred an interview request to the U of M. Senior administration declined to comment, aside from acknowledging the case is before the courts.
Black-Branch has not responded to requests for comment about the allegations levelled against him dating back to 2020.
U of M’s calculations indicate his professional development spending totalled $518,722.35, including payments for various leadership and business-related courses run by Harvard University, Northwestern University and the University of Cambridge.
The university is arguing that professional-development spending would not have been approved if the former dean had disclosed the details beforehand.
Black-Branch submitted “double claims” by seeking reimbursement for meals and accommodations when both were included in professional-development registration fees, per the 33-page statement of claim that sheds more light on the alleged misconduct.
He is facing allegations of breaking school policy by charging U of M $17,310.16 to belong to the Manitoba Club and the Oxford and Cambridge Club and directing subordinates to get around standard protocols to approve those receipts.
He is also being accused of invoicing the U of M for meals he falsely claimed were for legitimate school business purposes.
Manitoba’s largest faculty association endorsed the university’s decision to take legal action against Black-Branch.
“It’s important symbolism, and I hope it’s more than symbolism. Half a million dollars is a lot of money,” said UMFA president Erik Thompson, who represents about 1,170 full-time academics.
Gabe Haubrich, Prairie director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, echoed those comments, calling the lawsuit “a step in the right direction” that will hopefully dissuade any copycats.
U of M spokeswoman Myrrhanda Novak previously indicated officials were unsuccessful in attempting to recoup costs from Black-Branch before he left Manitoba and had no plans to follow up.
Black-Branch sold a residential property in Tuxedo shortly after he left the U of M in 2020, sources told the Free Press.
It’s incredibly difficult to hold anyone to account if they flee a jurisdictional region and take their assets with them, said Michelle Gallant, a U of M law professor who studies money laundering, tainted assets and other proceeds of wrongdoing.
“Manitoba law stops at the Manitoba border. Canadian law stops at the Canadian border,” she said, noting that complainants must request a foreign court to enforce a local judgment or launch a second action where a defendant’s assets are located.
