Dive Brief:
- A judge ruled Thursday that the University of Illinois did, in fact, have contractual obligations to Steven G. Salaita, refusing to dismiss a lawsuit he filed against the university after having his job offer revoked last summer.
- While the judge dismissed a couple of Salaita’s claims, the lawsuit will move forward with its core arguments intact, leaving open the possibility that the university will be found to have violated his first amendment rights as well as a legally binding contract.
- Also yesterday, Chancellor Phyllis Wise, who has been criticized for her leading role in the controversy, resigned from her position, taking a $400,000 lump sum and promise of a one-year sabbatical before joining the faculty in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology.
Dive Insight:
Salaita was offered a job with the University of Illinois in late 2013, moving to Illinois to start teaching last August. Salaita’s critical tweets about Israel’s attack on Gaza, however, prompted the university to revoke his offer.
At the time, Wise claimed this was above board because trustees had yet to approve his hiring. The judge ruled that this line of reasoning would “wreak havoc” across higher education, undermining the offer process and the risk faculty take in moving to start new jobs. The board of trustees does not approve new hires until after the semester starts, meaning faculty routinely resign from former positions, move their families, and take their places in new offices before their positions are made official.