Daily Egyptian: SIUC settles free speech lawsuit
A linguistics professor who claims her outspoken personality and pro-labor stance put her at odds with the University has agreed not to sue two former University administrators in exchange for $50,000 and a number of other benefits.
The settlement came Thursday after five years of legal battles between professor Joan Friedenberg and the University. Although Friedenberg’s suit named former linguistics chairman Glenn Gilbert and past interim provost Margaret Winters as defendants, the University was obligated to accept responsibility because the pair acted as SIUC employees.
The suit accused administrators of retaliating against Friedenberg after she voiced support for the faculty union in 1997 and filed a number of grievances. Friedenberg said she was the victim of faculty mobbing, an action through which a group of professors attempt to eliminate a co-worker through harassment and humiliation.
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