Category Archives: Legal issues

Judge denies Baptist seminary’s request to dismiss woman’s suit

Posted on September 18, 2007 by | Comments Off on Judge denies Baptist seminary’s request to dismiss woman’s suit

Dallas Morning News: Judge denies Baptist seminary’s request to dismiss woman’s suit

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Posted in Equity, Legal issues

Kentucky: COMPLAINT: TOO MANY REPUBLICANS

Posted on September 14, 2007 by | Comments Off on Kentucky: COMPLAINT: TOO MANY REPUBLICANS

The Chronicle: COMPLAINT: TOO MANY REPUBLICANS

Kentucky’s attorney general has taken his dispute with the state’s governor over the makeup of public-university governing boards to court. His lawsuit seeks to have 13 of the governor’s appointments declared invalid.

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Posted in Governance, Government, Legal issues

Prosecutors Say Former Texas Southern U. President Ran Up $100,000 Bar Tab

Posted on September 14, 2007 by | Comments Off on Prosecutors Say Former Texas Southern U. President Ran Up $100,000 Bar Tab

The Chronicle News Blog: Prosecutors Say Former Texas Southern U. President Ran Up $100,000 Bar Tab

The trial of Priscilla D. Slade, who was fired last year as Texas Southern University’s president, is in full swing. Ms. Slade, who led the financially troubled university from 1999 to 2006, is accused of misspending more than $500,000 in university money on personal expenses during her tenure.

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Posted in Legal issues

Hawai’i: Track and field coach sues UH

Posted on September 14, 2007 by | Comments Off on Hawai’i: Track and field coach sues UH

Honolulu Advertiser: Track and field coach sues UH

The University of Hawai’i “balanced the UH athletics budget on the back of women’s athletics,” the school’s women’s track and field coach charged in a lawsuit filed in Circuit Court yesterday.

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Posted in Legal issues

Texas: Slade’s assistant details lavish spending

Posted on September 11, 2007 by | Comments Off on Texas: Slade’s assistant details lavish spending

Houston Chronicle: Slade’s assistant details lavish spending

TSU paid to send university President Priscilla Slade and her executive assistant to Maine, Costa Rica and Rome, where she stayed at the Four Seasons hotel, her former assistant testified today.

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Posted in Administration, Legal issues

Manitoba: Ex-U of W prof launches civil suit over his old job

Posted on September 7, 2007 by | Comments Off on Manitoba: Ex-U of W prof launches civil suit over his old job

Winnipeg Sun: Ex-U of W prof launches civil suit over his old job

A former University of Winnipeg physics professor is renewing a legal fight over his old job.

Ed Tomchuk taught physics at the university for 44 years before he was forced into retirement two years ago.

Tomchuk, 75, lost a court challenge that would have allowed him to continue teaching after a collective agreement came into effect in August 2005 requiring all faculty staff retire by age 69.

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Posted in Legal issues

Texas: TSU activists discuss Slade’s ouster

Posted on August 31, 2007 by | Comments Off on Texas: TSU activists discuss Slade’s ouster

Houston Chronicle: TSU activists discuss Slade’s ouster

Two students credited with the eventual downfall of TSU President Priscilla Slade testified Thursday in her criminal trial that she cared more about spending money on her home than security for the historically black university.

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Posted in Administration, Legal issues

U. of Dubuque Settles With Professor Who Sued Over Ban on Public Criticism

Posted on August 31, 2007 by | Comments Off on U. of Dubuque Settles With Professor Who Sued Over Ban on Public Criticism

Telegraph Herald: U. of Dubuque Settles With Professor Who Sued Over Ban on Public Criticism

The fight is finally over. Nearly two years after the launch of a legal battle between the University of Dubuque and former faculty member Paul Jeffries, a decision has been finalized. University President Jeffrey Bullock released a statement saying Jeffries agreed to the university’s offer of $50,000 and both parties agreed on a legal resolution. The court finalized the matter Tuesday. Jeffries sued the university in fall of 2005, stating he had been unfairly terminated after being granted tenure. The former professor had been appointed to lead the Wendt Charac…[viewing 572 of 2412 characters]

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Posted in Legal issues

One Harassment Lawsuit Involving an Oregon Administrator Is Settled; Another Is Pending

Posted on August 31, 2007 by | Comments Off on One Harassment Lawsuit Involving an Oregon Administrator Is Settled; Another Is Pending

The Chronicle: OOne Harassment Lawsuit Involving an Oregon Administrator Is Settled; Another Is Pending

One of two sexual-harassment lawsuits filed last year against an administrator at Eastern Oregon University, the university itself, and the Oregon State Board of Higher Education has been dismissed.

A state court filing dated August 20 settles the lawsuit brought by a university staff employee who said that Robert L. Davis, director of undergraduate studies at Eastern Oregon, had raped her during a trip to Atlanta to attend an educational seminar.

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Posted in Administration, Legal issues

Texas: Ex-University Head in Texas on Trial for Money Misuse

Posted on August 27, 2007 by | Comments Off on Texas: Ex-University Head in Texas on Trial for Money Misuse

New York Times: Ex-University Head in Texas on Trial for Money Misuse

With Texas Southern University struggling to survive as one of the nation’s largest historically black colleges, the former president once hailed as its savior faced a state jury here Friday, charged with misspending hundreds of thousands of dollars on personal luxuries.

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Posted in Administration, Legal issues

Texas: Former TSU Pres Wants Her Case Dismissed

Posted on August 18, 2007 by | Comments Off on Texas: Former TSU Pres Wants Her Case Dismissed

Houston Chronicle: Slade wants her case dismissed

Prosecution denies the claim that it engaged in unethical and illegal behavior

Defense attorneys for ousted TSU President Priscilla Slade filed a motion Thursday to dismiss the case against her, saying prosecutors’ behavior was illegal and unethical.

The district attorney’s office may have violated the law by revealing grand jury information, and may have violated state ethics rules by secretly videotaping meetings with Slade and others, including a member of Bush’s Cabinet, Slade’s attorney Mike DeGeurin said.

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Posted in Administration, Legal issues

Churchill’s lawyer wants appeal heard in Denver

Posted on July 26, 2007 by | Comments Off on Churchill’s lawyer wants appeal heard in Denver

Rocky Mountain News: Churchill’s lawyer wants appeal heard in Denver

Ward Churchill’s attorney is seeking a more sympathetic jury by taking the case of the fired University of Colorado professor to Denver District Court rather than to a federal judge.

Federal judges tend to defer to the personnel decisions of university governing boards, especially if the boards followed due process as set forth in their own operating procedures, legal experts say. But a local jury is less predictable.

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Posted in Legal issues

Canadian University Settles With Professor Who Says His Views on Technology Cost Him an Appointment

Posted on July 26, 2007 by | Comments Off on Canadian University Settles With Professor Who Says His Views on Technology Cost Him an Appointment

Globe and Mail: University, academic reach settlement after six years

— Simon Fraser University has expressed its “sincere regret” to academic David Noble six years after a controversy over the university’s handling of the appointment of the J.S. Woodsworth chair in 2001.

Dr. Noble, a York University professor who is internationally recognized for groundbreaking work on the impact of technology on society, had the backing of faculty in SFU’s department of humanities. The expression of regret for mistakes that were made and the personal impact of the mistakes on Dr. Noble’s life was part of an out-of-court settlement announced yesterday.

The university acknowledged it made mistakes. However, the outcome may have been no different, even if the mistakes were not made, the university’s lawyers stated in a news release.

The Chronicle: Canadian University Settles With Professor Who Says His Views on Technology Cost Him an Appointment

Simon Fraser University has settled a lawsuit with David Noble, an outspoken professor who said he had been denied a humanities appointment at the British Columbia institution because of his strong criticism of the use of technology in academe.

The settlement completes a saga that started six years ago, when a Simon Fraser search committee nominated Mr. Noble, a professor of history at York University, in Ontario, to hold its J.S. Woodsworth Chair in the Humanities. Administrators at Simon Fraser blocked the appointment, arguing that Mr. Noble’s curriculum vitae was too short and his personal style too abrasive.

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Posted in Legal issues

University of Colorado Board of Regents Fires Ward Churchill, Who Vows to Sue

Posted on July 25, 2007 by | Comments Off on University of Colorado Board of Regents Fires Ward Churchill, Who Vows to Sue

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Kevin Moloney for The New York Times

The New York Times: Colorado Regents Vote to Fire a Controversial Professor

After more than two years of public tumult, the University of Colorado Board of Regents voted Tuesday to fire a professor whose remarks about the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks led to a national debate on free speech. But it was the professor’s problems with scholarship that the board cited as the cause for his termination.

Rocky Mountain News: CU regents fire Ward Churchill

The first, very long chapter of the Ward Churchill saga ended this afternoon as just about everybody — including Churchill — had predicted: He was fired from his job as ethnic studies professor at the University of Colorado.

The next chapter is set to begin Wednesday, when the controversial academic and his civil rights attorney, David Lane, sue the university in Denver District Court.

Denver Post: Regents ax prof; battle not yet settled

The nearly unanimous decision to fire professor Ward Churchill stirred discontent among some faculty Tuesday, many of whom vowed to fight the decision.

Many professors said they saw the decision coming and said they were crushed by what it might do to recruiting creative professors to the campus.

Already, as news bubbled out across the half-empty summer campus, several faculty said they will plan teach-ins and panel discussions about civil rights this fall.

Inside Higher Ed: Ward Churchill Fired

More than two and a half years after Ward Churchill’s writings on 9/11 set off a furor, and more than a year after a faculty panel at the University of Colorado at Boulder found him guilty of repeated, intentional academic misconduct, the University of Colorado Board of Regents voted 8-1 Tuesday evening to fire him.

The Chronicle: University of Colorado Board of Regents Fires Ward Churchill, Who Vows to Sue

Nearly six years after Ward Churchill compared some American victims of terrorism to Nazi bureaucrats, the Board of Regents of the University of Colorado voted Tuesday night to fire him. But the controversial ethnic-studies professor said he plans to sue.

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Posted in Academic freedom, Legal issues, Tenure & Promotion

Texas: Complaint alleges UT violates federal law by considering race in admissions.

Posted on July 24, 2007 by | Comments Off on Texas: Complaint alleges UT violates federal law by considering race in admissions.

Austin American-Statesman: Complaint alleges UT violates federal law by considering race in admissions.

A Washington-based watchdog group led by a University of Texas graduate filed a complaint Friday with the U.S. Department of Education about UT’s use of race in its admission decisions.

UT violates the law when it uses race to decide which freshmen to admit, said Edward Blum, the director of the Project on Fair Representation, a legal group that fights racial preference in schools and workplaces.

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Posted in Diversity, Legal issues

ACLU urges CU not to fire Churchill

Posted on July 23, 2007 by | Comments Off on ACLU urges CU not to fire Churchill

Inside Higher Ed:

The American Civil Liberties Union and its Colorado chapter have jointly written the University of Colorado Board of Regents, urging it not to fire Ward Churchill. The board meets tomorrow and is expected to fire the controversial ethnic studies professor over allegations of research misconduct, which he denies. Churchill maintains that he is being forced out because of his controversial writings about 9/11 and other topics. The ACLU letter acknowledged that Churchill’s job is endangered, technically, because of the findings of misconduct. But the ACLU said that the inquiry took place in a “poisoned atmosphere” in which his 9/11 comments led many politicians to seek his ouster. “The investigation of Professor Churchill’s scholarship cannot be separated from the indefensible lynch-mob furor that generated the initial calls for his termination,” the ACLU wrote. “Firing Professor Churchill in these circumstances does not sent a message about academic rigor and standards of professional integrity. On the contrary, it sends a warning to the academic community that politically unpopular dissenters speak out at their peril.”

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Posted in Academic freedom, Legal issues

U. of California Will Pay Former Athletics Official $3.5-Million to Settle Sex-Discrimination Suit

Posted on July 23, 2007 by | Comments Off on U. of California Will Pay Former Athletics Official $3.5-Million to Settle Sex-Discrimination Suit

The Chronicle: U. of California Will Pay Former Athletics Official $3.5-Million to Settle Sex-Discrimination Suit

The University of California announced last week that it will pay more than $3.5-million to settle a sex-discrimination case with a former coach and athletics official who sued after she was laid off in 2004.

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Posted in Diversity, Equity, Legal issues

University of Colorado Set To Fire Ward Churchill

Posted on July 22, 2007 by | Comments Off on University of Colorado Set To Fire Ward Churchill

CommonDreams.org: University of Colorado Set To Fire Ward Churchill
by Ira Chernus

On Tuesday, July 24, the University of Colorado Board of Regents will decide whether to accept the recommendation of CU President (and former Republican senator) Hank Brown, and fire CU Professor Ward Churchill. It’s not likely that Brown, one of the shrewdest (and most conservative) politicians Colorado has produced, would recommend the firing unless he was already sure the Regents would back him up. So it’s a very good bet that the Regents will indeed give Churchill the axe. The only thing that might change their minds is an outpouring of public opinion supporting a professor’s right to voice unpopular views.

The Regents’ decision is not merely a local affair. It has enormous impact on the whole country. That gives you the right — and the responsibility — to let them know what you think. The chair of the University of Colorado Board of Regents is Patricia Hayes. You can write to her at: Patricia.Hayes@cu.edu.

Why should you bother? It’s still a rare occasion when a tenured professor is fired because he is an outspoken leftist. But every time a witchhunt is successful, it encourages other right-wingers to go after their favorite target. It brings the next witchhunt closer and increases the odds that it will succeed.

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Posted in Academic freedom, Legal issues

Controversy to cost EMU $1M

Posted on July 21, 2007 by | Comments Off on Controversy to cost EMU $1M

The Detroit News: Controversy to cost EMU $1M

The campus tragedy of a student’s death and the ouster of three university leaders will likely cost Eastern Michigan University more than $1 million in severance packages, legal fees and penalties.

The university will likely owe up to $500,000 to law firm Butzel Long, which investigated EMU for violations of federal security laws following the rape and murder of Laura Dickinson, 22.

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Posted in Legal issues

U. of California to Pay Former Coach $3.5-Million to Settle Sex-Bias Lawsuit

Posted on July 21, 2007 by | Comments Off on U. of California to Pay Former Coach $3.5-Million to Settle Sex-Bias Lawsuit

The Chronicle News Blog: U. of California to Pay Former Coach $3.5-Million to Settle Sex-Bias Lawsuit

The University of California system will pay more than $3.5-million to settle a sex-discrimination lawsuit with a former coach and athletics official on its Berkeley campus who sued after she was laid off, in 2004.

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Posted in Legal issues