A former New York college instructor may proceed with a claim that he was denied tenure because school administrators disapproved of his conservative politics and support for President George W. Bush, not for deficiencies as an educator, a federal judge has ruled.
Michael Filozof has presented sufficient evidence of a possible First Amendment violation ... on his free speech claim, Western District Court Judge David G. Larimer has determined.
Filozof contends the tenure track he was on as a political science instructor at the Rochester, N.Y., community college was suddenly derailed in 2003, during a period of hot debate among students and faculty over the ramp-up to the war in Iraq. His complaint characterized faculty and administrators as liberals who are intolerant of right-of-center viewpoints.
Filozof's department recommended that his contract be renewed for a second year, calling him an "exceedingly gifted teacher" and including unsolicited letters from students praising his work.
The liberal arts dean at the college, Chet Rogalski ... recommended against renewal... The trustees at the college ultimately voted against rehiring Filozof.
"It is clear from Rogalski's handwritten notes outlining the written recommendation that his conclusion ... referred to Filozof's political views," the judge wrote.
The judge also wrote that the timing of the decision not to renew Filozof's contract is "suggestive of a potential causal relationship" between the decision and Filozof's expressions of support for Bush and the Iraq war.
"Politically charged" conversations were occurring at the college about the country's involvement in Iraq, Larimer wrote, and Filozof had posted an American flag sticker on his office door with a pro-Bush slogan on it, leaving no doubt where he stood.
Just think: if, instead of putting a flag sticker on his door, Filozof had firebombed the Pentagon, he'd probably have tenure today.
