Dive Brief:

• The University of Colorado has paid $825,000 to avoid a lawsuit planned by a graduate student who says that a philosophy professor smeared her reputation after she reported being sexually assaulted by a male doctoral student.
• The university is also taking action to fire the professor, David Barnett, who is tenured.
• Barnett plans to oppose the move by claiming violations of his First Amendment free speech rights and that he is protected under a state whistleblower law.

Dive Insight:

If Barnett is terminated, he would be only the fourth professor with tenure to be fired by the university in the school’s 138 years, according to the Daily Camera newspaper. The university is facing a federal investigation for possible Title IX violations. In January, a report by the American Philosophical Association Committee on the Status of Women Site Visit Program described a litany of questionable behavior in the philosophy department, including sexual harassment and bullying.

Barnett allegedly took it upon himself to file a 38-page report with the university about his investigation of the sexual assault victim, saying she was sexually promiscuous and had lied about being assaulted. No arrests were made in the sexual assault case, but the university determined that the male student violated the school’s sexual harassment policy and he was suspended from his instructor contract, then not renewed for the position.