The Chronicle: Ward Churchill’s Day in Court Arrives
The trial in Ward Churchill’s lawsuit against the University of Colorado got under way here on Tuesday with lawyers for the opposing sides painting starkly different pictures of both the controversial ethnic-studies professor and the circumstances surrounding his dismissal by the university in 2007.
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Posted in Academic freedom
Tagged Academic freedom, Legal issues, Tenure & Promotion, Termination, Ward Churchill
The Chronicle News Blog: Judge Orders U. of Georgia to Clear Former Dean of Harassment Accusations
A federal district judge has ordered the University of Georgia to rescind its finding that John Soloski, a former dean of its Grady College of Journalism, had sexually harassed a female co-worker by making two comments about her appearance.
The co-worker, Janet Kendall Jones, said Mr. Soloski had created a hostile work environment by commenting on the color of her eyes in October 2004, and by remarking in April 2005 that a dress she was wearing “really shows off your assets.” Mr. Soloski acknowledged that he had made those remarks but said they were not meant to be sexual.
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Posted in Legal issues
Tagged Legal issues, sexual harassment
Los Angeles Times: Lawsuit over gay-marriage speech at L.A. City College spurs reactions
Protesters back the student who claims his professor reacted badly to his religion-related stance against same-sex unions; a gay unity club forms; a New York man gets misdirected death threats.
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Posted in Equity
Tagged Diversity, Equity, Legal issues, Protests
Courier-Journal: Schroeder may seek to split his case from Felner’s
The attorney for Thomas Schroeder, the Illinois man named as co-defendant in the criminal case against former University of Louisville education dean Robert Felner, has filed a motion protecting his client’s right to request his case be tried separately from Felner’s.
Felner and Schroeder are accused of fraudulently obtaining nearly $2.3 million in grant and contract money from the universities of Louisville and Rhode Island.
Felner, 58, is facing 10 counts of mail fraud, money-laundering, conspiracy and income-tax evasion; a federal grand jury indicted him in October.
Schroeder, 51, of Fort Byron, Ill., also is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, mail fraud and conspiracy to defraud the IRS.
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Posted in Legal issues
Tagged Administration, Ethics, Fraud, Legal issues, Robert Felner
Vancouver Sun: Teachers want top court to quash strike definition
Appeal to be sought over ‘political protest’ rulings
Published: Saturday, February 14, 2009
The B.C. Teachers’ Federation will seek an appeal of a court decision that ruled the union’s one-day walkout in 2002 was an illegal strike, while the teachers saw it as a political protest.
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Posted in Strikes & Labor Disputes
The Monitor: College professor wins pay discrimination case against UTPA
EDINBURG — Hilda Medrano was demoted from her job as dean of the University of Texas-Pan American’s college of education almost four years ago.
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Posted in Legal issues
Tagged Legal issues, Salary/Economic Benefits
Ottawa Citizen: Students sue University of Ottawa for barring controversial professor
OTTAWA-Two graduate students and a researcher have filed a lawsuit against the University of Ottawa, claiming “their academic and research careers have been frustrated and/or derailed” after a controversial physics professor was barred from campus.
Denis Rancourt, a tenured professor, has attracted attention for his unconventional methods, including a plan to give all students in a fourth-year and graduate-level course in physics an A-plus. He has been placed on academic suspension.
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Posted in Legal issues
Tagged Legal issues, Students
Sydney Morning Herald: Pardoned author back after Thai ordeal
February 21, 2009
An emotional Harry Nicolaides has arrived home after spending almost six months in a Thai prison for criticising Thailand’s royal family in a novel he wrote.
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Posted in Legal issues
Tagged Faculty, Legal issues
Inside Higher Ed: U.S. Appeals Court Rules for Tenure Rights
February 20, 2009
A federal appeals court on Thursday restored the right of a formerly tenured faculty member in Puerto Rico to sue for damages in what he argues is a case of unfair dismissal.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit found that a lower court had unfairly applied an unusual law in Puerto Rico in a way inconsistent both with the statute’s intent and with the appropriate rights of a tenured professor. The law sets strict limits on how much certain aggrieved employees can receive for an unlawful dismissal — and those levels are so low that faculty groups feared that applying the measure would make meaningful redress impossible for them. In the case at hand, the professor had worked 28 years, but couldn’t have obtained even a year’s pay as compensation for dismissal, and would have had no chance at getting his job back.
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Posted in Tenure & Promotion
Tagged Legal issues, Salary/Economic Benefits, Tenure & Promotion
The Chronicle: Federal Appeals Court Upholds Financial Protections of Tenure in Case From Puerto Rico
Tenure affords college faculty members distinct income protections, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday in a decision denying a Puerto Rican private college the ability to rid itself of a professor by simply paying him the minimum severance package required under a commonwealth law.
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Posted in Tenure & Promotion
Tagged Legal issues, Salary/Economic Benefits, Tenure & Promotion
WLKY.com: Judge To Hear Arguments In Former Dean’s Fraud Case
Felner Wants Evidence Suppressed
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A federal judge will hear arguments next month about whether to suppress evidence in the case against a former University of Louisville dean accused of fraud.
Robert Felner and colleague Thomas Schroeder are accused of fraudulently obtaining more than $2 million in grant and contract money from U of L and the University of Rhode Island.
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Posted in Legal issues
Tagged Ethics, Legal issues
Inside Higher Ed: EEOC Can Sue Public University, Court Rules
The Eleventh Amendment protects public universities from lawsuits by former employees under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act — but it does not prevent the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from suing the colleges on the aggrieved employees’ behalf, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
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Posted in Legal issues
Tagged Employment rights, Legal issues
San Antonio Express-News: Ex-UTSA prof wins suit over trashed notes
Don’t touch those files.
This week, a federal court jury awarded $175,000 in damages to Philip Stotter, a former chemistry professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, for the loss of research materials tossed out by school officials during a forced cleaning of Stotter’s laboratory.
The jury held former UTSA provost Guy Bailey personally responsible for failing to give Stotter adequate notice before throwing out his personal property, sending the message that government administrators are not always protected by the state’s immunity from being sued, said Regina Criswell, Stotter’s lawyer.
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Posted in Faculty
Tagged Faculty, Legal issues
Pocono Record: ESU, Dillman, two executives sued over Sanders allegations
Accuses administrator of pursuing sex with six students; accuses university of cover-up
One current and five former students are suing East Stroudsburg University, claiming a top administrator pursued unwanted sex with them — including genital groping and oral sex — and school officials covered up his alleged crimes.
The allegations are detailed in an explicit, 50-page civil suit that was filed Friday in Monroe County Courthouse.
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Posted in Legal issues
Tagged Ethics, Legal issues, sexual harassment
The Chronicle News Blog: Los Angeles City College Is Sued Over Alleged Bias Against Christian Student
The Alliance Defense Fund sued the Los Angeles Community College District on Wednesday, asserting that a student at Los Angeles City College was shouted down and called a “fascist bastard” by his Speech 101 professor while giving a presentation about his Christian faith.
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Posted in Legal issues
Tagged Legal issues
Arizona Republic: ASU settles lawsuit filed by woman in rape case
The settlement of a lawsuit filed by a former student who said she was raped in her dorm room will cost Arizona State University $850,000 and revamp the way the three state universities respond to complaints of sexual harassment and violence.
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Posted in Legal issues
Tagged Legal issues
Wickedlocal.com: Judge orders teachers to pay $100,000 for 2007 strike
Quincy teachers who went out on strike illegally in June 2007 have been ordered by a judge to pay a $100,000 fine.
The settlement amount represents an estimate of what the strike cost the school department, between grievances filed by other school unions – whose members lost workdays – and in things such as wasted food and pay for police officers assigned to watch over picket lines.
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Posted in Strikes & Labor Disputes
Tagged Legal issues, Strikes & Labor Disputes
Star Bulletin: Courts confront issue of tests’ constitutionality
Federal courts around the country have been split on whether drug testing of public school teachers is constitutional. In Hawaii, the state Supreme Court has yet to rule on the issue.
The U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which prohibits “unreasonable searches and seizures,” is the basis for the constitutional challenges, but federal courts disagree whether the government has a “special interest” or legitimate basis for subjecting public employees to the tests.
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Posted in Legal issues
Tagged Drug Testing, Legal issues
The Chronicle New Blog: Former Marshall U. Official Reaches Preliminary Settlement in Defamation Lawsuit
A former athletics compliance officer at Marshall University says he has reached a settlement in his federal defamation lawsuit against the university, in West Virginia.
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Posted in Legal issues
Tagged Legal issues
bnd.com: University of Missouri sues professor over patent
COLUMBIA, Mo. — A long-running dispute between the University of Missouri and one of its professors over intellectual property is headed to federal court.
The university system filed a lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City against chemical engineering professor Galen Suppes. The system claims Suppes won’t release the rights to more than 30 inventions and 11 potential patents it says were developed in his Columbia campus labs.
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Posted in Legal issues
Tagged Legal issues
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