Dive Brief:

• A University of North Carolina Wilmington professor has won a lawsuit claiming that the school denied him promotion to full professor in 2006 because of his religious views.
• The associate professor of criminology, Mike Adams, is an atheist-turned-conservative-Christian who has written columns and books and discussed his views on numerous radio and TV shows.
• Adams had claimed the university denied his First Amendment right to free speech and denied him equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Dive Insight:

This jury ruling in favor of Adams appears to conclude a U.S. District Court lawsuit that began in 2007, though the university said it may appeal. The court ruled in favor of the university in 2010, and a federal appeals court overturned the decision in 2011. The appeals court decision has been upheld by a jury. With the latest decision, North Carolina Wilmington issued a statement denying that Adams’ political or religious views played any role in denying his application for promotion.