Retaliation Claim Vindicated
March 21, 2014
By Scott Jaschik
Seven years after Mike Adams sued the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, charging that he was denied a promotion because of his political views, a federal jury agreed on Thursday.
The verdict comes in a case that has attracted considerable attention because Adams has a large conservative following, and his case represents the kind of bias many on the right say they experience in academe (typically without a verdict like this one). Also, some of the earlier rulings in the case raised issues of academic freedom that went far beyond Adams and his writings -- and that concerned academics across the political spectrum.
Adams sued in 2007 after being denied a promotion to full professor of sociology. He cited emails and statements from faculty colleagues taking issue with his views, which are outspoken and conservative. (You can find a selection of his columns here. http://townhall.com/columnists/mikeadams) The Adams case was of particular interest to many who charge political bias in the academy because he is a political (and religious) convert. He presented evidence that his faculty colleagues liked him when he was an atheist Democrat, but started to have concerns when he became a Christian Republican.
The university maintained that it had legitimate, non-political reasons for denying his promotion, suggesting that he had not done enough research. But he presented evidence that he had published more than the number of peer-reviewed articles generally considered to make one "safe" for promotion to full professor at Wilmington.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/03/21/jury-backs-claim-conservative-professor-he-was-denied-promotion-because-his-views
Some background:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/04/12/uncw
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