Conservative University of North Carolina professor wins promotion and 50k in discrimination case

A federal court has let the world of American academia know that it is not OK to deny a promotion to a professor just because he or she is a conservative. A door has been opened to a nightmare for progressive academics who believe that conservatives are beyond the pale and deserve to be shunned, much as racists a generation or two ago believed that blacks could not possibly merit inclusion in the upper ranks of society.

A federal court Wednesday ordered the University of North Carolina-Wilmington to promote and give $50,000 in back pay to a conservative professor in what is described as a landmark anti-discrimination case.

The restitution was ordered three weeks after a jury found the university guilty of retaliating against criminology professor Mike Adams, a popular conservative columnist on Townhall.com, after denying him a promotion to full professor in 2006.

“This ruling sends a message to public universities: Academic freedom isn’t just for the Left, it’s a constitutional right for all professors — even Christian conservatives,” said David French, senior counsel at the conservative American Center for Law and Justice, which represented Mr. Adams.

This will be a hard lesson, and it will require more cases being adjudicated before habits of mind change. Many academics are convinced that conservatives are by definition stupid, as well as immoral. Tony Perkins provides some background on the case.

Eight years ago, the university’s sociology department turned down Adams’s application for promotion, despite a folio of awards, student recommendations, 125 speaking appearances, and 11 published peer-review articles. It was the first time, his attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom pointed out, that a professor with that many peer-reviewed pieces had ever been denied promotion at the Department level.

The left has no shame, especially in the current political climate. They will continue to do these things, forcing the right to fight them a la WWI, for every foot of ground. They have the overwhelming power and might of Fedzilla on their side right now, not to mention the father of lies. Fortunately we know how that ends-satan rules in hell, not Heaven.

I’m glad to see he won, but a person’s politics is not a protected class. I thought you could discriminate against anyone for any reason other than those listed below.

Any lawyers on this site know how politics can be considered a protected group?

Race.
Color.
Religion or creed.
National origin or ancestry.
Sex.
Age.
Physical or mental disability.
Veteran status.
Genetic information.
Citizenship.

Is the University private? If not then discrimination of ANY sort should not be allowed. Forget the politics of this, they denied a more than qualified candidate a promotion for no good reason whatsoever. I know that I do not want my government run this way.

This is not about a “group”. This is about an individual with a more than valid discrimination case. They could have not promoted him because his eyes were blue, it does not make a difference.

They are a public institution that promises “diversity” of thought. They are not delivering on that objective if they discriminate against someone with views different from their own but still perfectly valid.

Do DU send you over here to troll?

Troll from DU? That’s a first for me.
Check my previous post and decide for yourself.

I know that my employer sends everyone to an anti-discrimination and anti-sexual harassment class every year. One of the points the HR guy highlights is that discrimination is permitted unless it is against a protected class. My open question to the forum was a serious one.

My list is only for federal law. Perhaps state law in NC includes politics. Maybe it was a policy of the university itself.

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