An academic who claims woke policies were behind his sacking from Monash University has won a reprieve in his multimillion-dollar lawsuit.
Computer scientist Reuben Kirkham sued the university after he was dismissed from their staff in 2024, claiming he was turfed for being "white", "non-Indigenous" and "imputed with Conservative political beliefs".
In a 173-page statement of claim, Dr Kirkham alleges he was a target of diversity, equity and inclusion policies, and sought compensation totalling more than $7.5 million.
That is despite not identifying in his lengthy claim where such diversity policies are housed in university documents, Federal Circuit Court Judge Salvatore Vasta said.
Dr Kirkham claimed colleagues who did not have "oppressor characteristics" were given more resources.
Judge Vasta dismissed the academic's claims in May, but argumentative exchanges between the two in court came under the scrutiny of an appeal judge.
"You are the epitome of the phrase that a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing, Dr Kirkham," Judge Vasta said in a hearing on May 22.
"You can talk till the cows come home. I am not paying attention to anything that does not relate."
The following day, Dr Kirkham applied for Judge Vasta to recuse himself due to the personal comments he made towards the academic and criticism of his legal approach.
"You've got no idea about what I approve or disapprove of," Judge Vasta said in reply.
"How dare you try and insinuate that I have brought in personal biases or prejudices to what it is I am doing."
Judge Vasta said he had little to no confidence Dr Kirkham could properly plead a case and dismissed the claim entirely.
With his case seemingly on life support, Dr Kirkham was given a lifeline after a Federal Court judge ruled an observer may have been able to think Judge Vasta could not be impartial in his ruling.
"The primary judge also evidently took exception ... in a manner that was arguably disruptive and (or) a departure from the role of an impartial decision-maker," Justice Michael Feutrill said on Friday.
Judge Vasta has previously come under scrutiny for wrongly jailing a man during a divorce case.
Under Justice Feutrill's ruling, Dr Kirkham will be allowed to file a notice of appeal to the Federal Court until May 1.
