University of North Carolina – Wilmington: Professor Files Lawsuit Alleging Retaliation for Political Columns
Category: Due Process
Schools:
University of North Carolina – Wilmington
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Trending: Conservatives, Christians Take Campus Battles to Court – And Win
August 11, 2014
By Jennifer Kabbany at The College Fix They’ve been ordered not to hand out copies of the U.S. Constitution. They’ve been denied promotions because of their faith. They’ve been forced to help pay for abortion-inducing birth control. They’ve been judged solely by the color of their skin. And they’re fighting back. And they’re winning. Conservative and Christian students and professors who have been denied free speech or faced discrimination and religious persecution because of their beliefs have recently enjoyed a string of courthouse victories in what’s amounting to something of a banner year for such causes. There’s been at least six […]
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Targeted Christian Scores Major Legal Victory
April 9, 2014
By Bob Unruh at WND Officials at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington have been ordered to pay a teacher $50,000 in back pay and promote him to a full professorship, backdated to 2007, for discriminating against him over his Christian perspectives. The ruling from Senior U.S. District Judge Malcolm Howard comes in the case of Christian professor Mike Adams, who had faced retaliation, according to the jury, for his conservative views expressed in opinion columns, books and speeches. “This is a great day not only for Dr. Adams but for all who value academic freedom,” said Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot of the Alliance […]
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University Prof’s Christian Speech Protected
March 28, 2013
by Bob Unruh WND University of North Carolina-Wilmington professor Mike Adams isn’t particularly reticent about his conservative viewpoint. For example, in his Townhall.com column only a few weeks ago, he poked fun at the idea a university should exclude a Chick-fil-A restaurant from its property because of pro-family views of the company’s owner. Such exclusion, which Adams described as “queer reasoning,” would make the university more “inclusive,” campaigners apparently believed. “I’ve been thinking about it, and I’ve decided that our LGBTQIA Office here on my campus makes me feel uncomfortable. In fact, the rainbow is a symbol of hate. So, next […]
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Professor’s lawsuit against UNCW proceeding to trial
March 28, 2013
by Ashlea Kosikowski WSFX WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – Six years after a UNCW professor filed lawsuit against the school, the case is proceeding to trial. According to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, or FIRE, last week, a federal district court ruled that Mike Adams’ suit can move forward. Adams, a criminal justice professor at the school, sued the university in 2007, after he said he was denied a promotion due to his conservative political and religious beliefs. He has been teaching at the school since 1993. Adams won several awards, including the UNCW Faculty Member of the Year […]
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Free Speech Advocates Urge Consistency in Protecting Speech
August 14, 2014
Adam Kissel, formerly of FIRE, took to Minding the Campus on Tuesday to remind readers of why advocates for free speech should be concerned that Professor Steven Salaita had his employment offer rescinded by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) following controversy over his tweets about Israel. Those who refuse to defend Salaita’s right to share these tweets, Kissel argues, will have a hard time defending the public speech of any other faculty member who voices opinions that others find offensive.
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UNC Wilmington Drops Appeal, Settles with Professor in First Amendment Case
July 16, 2014
After seven years, the legal battle between the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNC Wilmington) and Professor Mike Adams has finally come to an end. Back in 2007, Adams sued UNC Wilmington, alleging that it retaliated against him for political viewpoints he had expressed in columns written for non-university publications. With a key federal appellate court win in 2011 and a jury verdict in his favor earlier this year, Adams has had an impressive run—and UNC Wilmington is smart to settle with the professor at last.
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Supreme Court Takes Positive Step for Public Employee Speech in ‘Lane v. Franks’
June 23, 2014
Last Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in the case of Lane v. Franks (PDF), holding that a public employee’s in-court testimony about official corruption was protected by the First Amendment.
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UNC Wilmington Hit With $700,000 Legal Bill for Violating Professor’s Speech Rights
June 11, 2014
The protracted legal battle between the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNC Wilmington) and professor Mike Adams can be fairly characterized as a series of failures by the university to cut its losses and own up to its mistakes. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled against the university in 2011, holding that the professor’s academic speech was entitled to protection under the First Amendment. Yet the university pressed on. Then, a federal jury rejected the university’s defense that it didn’t deny Adams’ promotion based on the protected activity and found that UNC Wilmington had […]
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UNC Wilmington Appeals Free Speech Case After Repeated Losses in Court, Hundreds of Thousands of Taxpayers’ Dollars
May 22, 2014
Outside observers could easily be forgiven for assuming that things were wrapping up in University of North Carolina Wilmington Professor Mike Adams’ lawsuit against the school. As Torch readers will remember, Adams sued his employer for denying him a promotion in part because of political viewpoints he had expressed in columns written for non-university publications. Adams’ case finally went to trial last spring—nearly six years after he originally filed suit—thanks to a critical ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in 2011. Adams won that trial, and last month a federal judge ordered the university to […]
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Judge Orders UNC Wilmington to Promote Mike Adams, Awards Back Pay
April 8, 2014
This afternoon, a federal judge brought Professor Mike Adams’ lawsuit one step closer to conclusion when he issued a judgment in the wake of the jury’s verdict that the University of North Carolina Wilmington unconstitutionally denied Adams a promotion to full professor on the basis of his protected speech.
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Greg and Ari on the Significance of Mike Adams’ Lawsuit Victory for ‘Minding the Campus’
April 1, 2014
FIRE President Greg Lukianoff and I have written a piece for Minding the Campus explaining the importance a federal jury’s March 20 verdict in favor of Dr. Mike Adams, who sued the University of North Carolina Wilmington for allegedly denying his promotion to full professor because of his outspoken conservative views.
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Victory for Free Speech: UNC Wilmington Professor Wins in Court
March 21, 2014
University of North Carolina Wilmington Professor Mike Adams won a significant victory for free speech in federal court yesterday when a jury found that UNC Wilmington had retaliated against him in violation of his First Amendment rights.
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UNC Wilmington Professor’s Day in Court Finally Arrives
March 17, 2014
Today, University of North Carolina Wilmington Professor Mike Adams heads to federal court to begin a trial that will determine whether his university retaliated against him for expressing his religious and political beliefs in columns, books, and radio and television interviews for non-university outlets.
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Nearly Six Years After Filing, UNC-Wilmington Professor’s First Amendment Lawsuit Heads to Trial
March 26, 2013
In April 2007, Professor Mike Adams of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington filed a federal lawsuit against his institution, alleging that he had been denied promotion in part due to political viewpoints he had expressed in columns written for non-university publications. Nearly six years and one successful appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit later, a federal district court has ruled that Adams’ First Amendment claim may proceed to trial. Adams’ April 2007 complaint, filed with the cooperation of the Alliance Defense Fund (now the Alliance Defending Freedom), accused UNC-Wilmington officials of violating his First […]
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Landmark Fourth Circuit Ruling Protects Faculty Speech
April 7, 2011
In a victory for freedom of expression, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit yesterday issued a landmark defense of First Amendment rights for faculty at public colleges and universities. The Fourth Circuit reversed a federal district court’s ruling in part, holding that the lower court had improperly dismissed First Amendment claims brought by Professor Mike Adams of the University of North Carolina Wilmington. In his complaint, filed against the university in March of 2007 with the backing of the Alliance Defense Fund, Adams alleged that his application for promotion had been denied in part due to […]
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The Latest on the Mike Adams Case
September 28, 2006
As reported earlier on The Torch, conservative activist and UNC-Wilmington professor Mike Adams was recently denied promotion to full professor without an explanation. After seeking a written rationale (and being promised one), Mike recently received a memo informing him that no written explanation will be issued. In it, Department Chair Kimberly Cook stated: I am disappointed that you declined my invitation to discuss personally the decision on your promotion. My preference is to communicate this information to you in person as I have done with similar personnel decisions in this Department since starting my term as Chair. Therefore, I am […]
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David French on Mike Adams
September 19, 2006
Check out David’s take over at Phi Beta Cons on UNC Wilmington’s decision not to promote Professor Mike Adams.
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Mike Adams Denied Promotion at UNC-Wilmington
September 15, 2006
University professor and conservative rabble-rouser Mike Adams was officially denied promotion to full professor today at UNC-Wilmington. Loyal Torch readers are familiar with Adams as he has written dozens of articles on FIRE-related issues over the years. FIRE first became acquainted with Adams back in 2001 when UNC-W decided to invade his private e-mails due to spurious claims that he had libeled a student in the wake of 9/11. As we reported back then: Four days after the terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon, a student sent [Adams], and others, an e-mail that blamed the United States […]
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