Colorado State University - Pueblo: Professor's Email Access Blocked After Message Protesting Layoffs
Cases
Colorado State University - Pueblo
Case Overview
On January 17, 2014, Colorado State University-Pueblo Professor Tim McGettigan emailed all students and faculty, criticizing the administration鈥檚 plans to terminate up to 50 positions at the school. McGettigan鈥檚 email evoked the Ludlow Massacre, a 1914 attack on striking miners and their families that resulted in numerous deaths. That same day, administrators accused McGettigan of violating a policy that prohibits using email 鈥渢o intimidate, threaten, or harass other individuals,鈥 and deactivated his email account without warning. CSU-Pueblo defended its actions by citing safety concerns, referring to shootings that occurred at other schools. On January 21, FIREwrote to President Lesley Di Mare, explaining that McGettigan鈥檚 email was protected speech and did not come close to constituting legally unprotected threats, intimidation, or harassment. After 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 letter, CSU-Pueblo restored partial access to McGettigan鈥檚 email, but continued to prevent him from using university mass email lists. On January 15, 2015, McGettigan filed a lawsuit against CSU-Pueblo, stating that the university violated its policies when it denied him access to his email account. McGettigan and the university settled the lawsuit in 2017.