Verdict Against Auburn University in Economics Professor’s First Amendment Retaliation Lawsuit

Fast forward a half century later to Lee County, Alabama, where Plaintiff Michael L. Stern, Ph.D. a tenured economics professor at Auburn University had gained a reputation as a vocal critic of the College of Liberal Arts’ public administration major for its disproportionate number of scholarship student-athletes, particularly those in the football program. Dr. Stern believed that the university was behind the clustering of student-athletes into this athletic-friendly major and that its athletic department had fought to retain the major against its recommended closure&. Dr. Stern’s criticism attacking the integrity of the public administration major and the Auburn athletic program was unpopular among university administrators, including Defendants.

In May 2018, Dr. Stern was removed as chair of the Department of Economics, a position he had held since 2010. His removal as chair was the last straw in what Dr. Stern categorizes as a campaign of harassment by university officials to discourage him from exercising his First Amendment rights to speak out against what he discerned was a scandalous academic major protecting star athletes&.

The court had allowed the case to go forward based on Stern’s claim that his removal as chair and his getting unusually low or no annual raises or bonuses stemmed from his constitutionally protected speech:

via reason.com

As Glenn Reynolds said though, these verdicts need another zero.