Dive Brief:
- A criminology professor and Christian author at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington will receive a promotion to full professor, $50,000 in back pay, and a $75,000 annual salary — a raise of $9,000 — as part of a deal to settle his lawsuit over a denied promotion, StarNewsOnline reported.
- The settlement, reached seven years after Mike Adams initially filed the lawsuit, also has the university paying $615,000 for his attorney fees and Adams agreeing not to sue for additional claims.
- Adams had claimed that UNCW denied him a promotion as retaliation for speaking his views, violating his First Amendment right to right to free speech.
Dive Insight:
Adams has expressed his Christian views on radio and TV programs, as well as in print media. A court dismissed his 2007 claims of religious discrimination and violation of his equal protection rights, then a jury ruled in his favor on the free speech claim. The university had decided to appeal in May, generating criticism, including a statement from a state senator calling for the end of a “campaign of disinformation” against Adams.
