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Fired LSU Professor Files First Amendment Lawsuit Challenging Speech Code Championed by Feds
- LSU claimed professor鈥檚 teaching methods violated sexual harassment policy that mirrors 鈥渂lueprint鈥 language proposed by U.S. Depts of Education, Justice
- 鈥淟SU said I offended some people, called it sexual harassment, and fired me.鈥
- Civil liberties advocates warned the policy threatened free speech on campus
- Professor asks court to strike down LSU policy as unconstitutional, reverse firing
BATON ROUGE, La., January 21, 2016鈥擫ate yesterday, education professor Teresa Buchanan filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the president of Louisiana State University (LSU) and other top administrators for violating her free speech and due process rights by firing her last year. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is sponsoring Buchanan鈥檚 lawsuit, the eleventh in 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 undefeated national .
Buchanan was fired for her alleged occasional use of profanity and sexual language in preparing her adult students to be effective teachers. LSU claimed Buchanan鈥檚 teaching methods violated its policy prohibiting 鈥渟exual harassment鈥 of students, which defines sexual harassment as 鈥渦nwelcome verbal, visual, or physical behavior of a sexual nature.鈥 LSU鈥檚 policy mirrors the language of the sexual harassment definition propagated by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice in 2013 as 鈥渁 blueprint for colleges and universities throughout the country.鈥 FIRE and other civil liberties advocates have warned this controversial language threatens the free speech and academic freedom rights of faculty and students. Buchanan鈥檚 lawsuit challenges the policy and its application to her.
鈥淔IREpredicted that universities would silence and punish faculty by using the Department of Education鈥檚 unconstitutional definition of sexual harassment鈥攁nd that鈥檚 exactly what happened at LSU,鈥 said FIREDirector of Litigation Catherine Sevcenko. 鈥淯nder this broad definition of sexual harassment, professors risk punishment for teaching or discussing sex-related material, be it Nabokov鈥檚 Lolita or the latest episode of The Bachelor. Now Teresa is fighting back to protect her rights and the rights of her colleagues.鈥
Buchanan was a tenured associate professor teaching in LSU鈥檚 acclaimed prekindergarten through third grade teacher certification program. In December 2013, she was informed that she would not be allowed to teach during the Spring 2014 semester because of unspecified allegations that she had made 鈥渋nappropriate comments鈥 while teaching college-aged teacher education students. At the time, Buchanan鈥攚ho had taught at LSU for nearly 20 years鈥攚as in the final stages of approval for a promotion to full professor. Six months later, in May 2014, Buchanan was informed by the LSU Office of Human Resource Management that she was being charged with violating the university鈥檚 sexual harassment policy. Although a few students complained about her teaching style, not a single student鈥攐r anyone else鈥攅ver accused her of sexual harassment.
FIRE has warned that policy language like LSU鈥檚 fails to meet the Supreme Court鈥檚 controlling standard for sexual harassment in the educational context and is unconstitutional.
In the months that followed Buchanan鈥檚 sexual harassment charges, LSU failed to provide her with specific information about the charges or who had filed the complaints about her. These failures violated the university鈥檚 policies and Buchanan鈥檚 due process rights. Nonetheless, Buchanan tried to explain to LSU administrators in a letter that she occasionally uses sexual language and humor in lessons and role-playing exercises as a way to help student teachers. She explained that her lessons are meant to prepare educators for their future interactions with 鈥渃hildren from family backgrounds that are different from their own鈥 and to highlight the importance of building 鈥渆ffective and reciprocal relationships with all families."
In March 2015, a faculty committee unanimously determined that the university should not consider terminating her employment. The panel of her peers felt that it would be sufficient for Buchanan to modify her behavior. The LSU administration ignored the faculty recommendation, and in June 2015, LSU鈥檚 Board of Supervisors fired Buchanan. , LSU justified its actions by stating that it was following 鈥渢he U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 Office of Civil Rights鈥 [sic] advisements.鈥
On October 6, 2015, the LSU Faculty Senate adopted a resolution censuring the administration for applying 鈥渃onfusing, dangerous, and untenable standards鈥 to Buchanan and called on LSU to reverse its decision. Likewise, in September, the American Association of University Professors issued a report finding that Buchanan鈥檚 rights to due process and academic freedom were violated.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a professor鈥檚 job to provoke students into thinking and examining their assumptions,鈥 Buchanan said, 鈥渁nd that鈥檚 precisely what I did. You don't have to be a lawyer to know it's wrong to fire a professor for exercising her academic freedom. LSU said I offended some people, called it sexual harassment, and fired me. In doing so, they violated LSU鈥檚 promises of free speech and academic freedom for its faculty.鈥
鈥淟SU is not alone in having a policy that mirrors the Department of Education鈥檚 unconstitutional definition of sexual harassment,鈥 said FIREExecutive Director Robert Shibley. 鈥淐olleges across the country such as Clemson, Penn State, and the University of Connecticut have also adopted the language, which threatens the free speech rights of countless faculty members just like Teresa. FIREhas long said the definition is unconstitutional. We think a federal court will do the same.鈥
FIRE retained preeminent First Amendment attorney Robert Corn-Revere of the law firm and his colleagues Ronald London and Lisa Zycherman to represent Buchanan in this lawsuit.
FIRE is a nonpartisan, nonprofit educational foundation that unites civil rights and civil liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals from across the political and ideological spectrum on behalf of individual rights, freedom of expression, academic freedom, due process, and freedom of conscience at our nation鈥檚 colleges and universities. 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 efforts to preserve liberty on campuses across America can be viewed at thefire.org.
CONTACT:
Katie Barrows, Communications Coordinator, 果冻传媒app官方: 215-717-3473; media@thefire.org
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