Posted on 01/22/2009 5:44:28 PM PST by callthemlikeyouseethem
IOWA CITY, Iowa - A University of Iowa employee has filed a suit in U.S. District Court, claiming her conservative political views kept her from being hired by the school's College of Law.
Teresa Wagner has worked in the law school writing center since 2006. She says in the filings that she was denied for two positions with the College of Law "for illegal reasons."
Wagner's suit says that at least 46 of the 50 or so faculty members that vote on faculty hires in the law school are registered as Democrats in Johnson County.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
I hope she wins! Iowa has been taken over by liberals to the point we can't even post our news on FR...
I agree with your sentiment, however, having seen the phrase...”for illegal reasons.” ... I hope she will employ a better wordsmith.
She might be better off claiming she’s cheated because she’s an Alien from Alpha Centauri!
In Iowa City, I’m surprised 50 out of 50 aren’t Donks.
Where I work, you can’t even whisper your conservative views.
I wish her lick, but she had best not quit her day job.
As a graduate of the U of I College of Law, this does not surprise me at all. What surprises me is that there is still one registered Republican on the law school faulty. Honestly, I can’t think of who that might be.
faulty = faculty. Actually “faulty” is not a bad choice either.
Might as well get use to it. See video of the plan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opxuUj6vFa4&feature=channel_page
You go girl!
**Where I work, you can’t even whisper your conservative views.**
I was “”Outed”” as a Republican about 10 years ago... it’s STILL hard for me to get work. I walk in the door at my UNION OFFICES.. the receptionist goes on their break by the time I get to the DESK.. It’ INTERESTING.
To everyone involved... save your money...it’ll never happen.
Remember the annointed MINORITIES were chosen by LIBERALS.. you cannot be Discriminated against .. if you are a Republican, Conservative. . Hell, it’s tough enough filing any sort of case if you’re WHITE. The only recourse for us white folk is a cast iron pipe in a dark alley. and I don’t suggest that, either.
“”Law dean biased in hiring, lawsuit alleges
By: Olivia Moran - The Daily Iowan 1/23/09
A UI College of Law employee filed a federal lawsuit against the dean of the school this week, asserting she was rejected for a position because of her political affiliation.
Teresa Wagner, a Republican who works part-time at the law school writing center, names UI College of Law Dean Carolyn Jones in the suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.
“Based on what we know from reporters, we believe it is without merit, and we will vigorously defend ourselves,” UI spokesman Steve Parrott said.
Jones was unavailable for comment on Thursday evening.
According to the suit, Wagner began interviewing for a full-time writing-instructor position in the fall of 2006, with her conservative views openly available on her résumé. After a first interview, Wagner alleges she attended a second interview two months later, receiving numerous compliments on her presentation from law-school faculty. The lawsuit also contends that then-law-school Associate Dean Jonathan Carlson advised her before the interview to conceal her affiliation with Ave Maria School of Law - a conservative law school in Michigan - where she declined a law professor position in 2002. Carlson said he did not tell Wagner to conceal anything and that those allegations in the lawsuit are “misstatements or distortions.”
The UI position was offered to another candidate - a former research assistant of UI law-school Professor Randall Bezanson - three days after Wagner’s second interview.
Wagner contends in the lawsuit that Carlson informed her Bezanson had spoken against her hiring during a faculty appointments meeting.
“I have never and would never vote in favor or against anyone based on their personal views or political views,” Bezanson said.
The lawsuit does not specify why Bezanson allegedly spoke against Wagner’s appointment.
“A number of faculty, including Bezanson, opposed her appointment on the merits,” Carlson said. “They thought the answers she gave in her presentation about how she would perform the job weren’t good and suggested that she wouldn’t perform the job well and that her academic record was consistent with that conclusion.”
Carlson said faculty appointments usually require more than a simple majority vote.
“One person doesn’t stop someone from being hired - that’s absurd,” he said. “The faculty who opposed her, in my judgment, did not oppose her because of her political beliefs but because they didn’t think she’d do a good job delivering to law students the traits we wanted them to have.”
In the 1970s, Bezanson worked for former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, the author of Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which was decided 36 years ago Thursday. The case legalized abortion, and Wagner has fought against Roe, the lawsuit stated.
“An egregious political imbalance exists among the hiring decision-makers at the Iowa College of Law,” the lawsuit states.
At the UI’s law school, 46 of the 50 faculty members are registered Democrats; only one is a registered Republican, according to the suit.
Wagner is a 1993 UI College of Law graduate. She practiced as an associate litigation attorney in Iowa City for two years, once worked for two conservative organizations in Washington, D.C., lectured at two schools, and edited numerous pieces of work from law professors across the country, according to the lawsuit.
Wagner is demanding a jury trial. The lawsuit suggests she should be compensated by Jones for her loss of income, loss of benefits, emotional damages, and that Jones hire her for the instructor position. “”
There is a certain law school which has almost exclusively liberal faculty members. The few conservative members hide themselves. The one openly conservative one is a designated punching bag.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.