Partial Victory for Catholic Student

Church Militant ^ | 10/9/20 | David Nussman

[marshmallow]

Court orders university to pay salary for lost position

ALLAHASSEE, Fla. (ChurchMilitant.com) - A persecuted Catholic student has been largely vindicated in court.

On Friday, a federal district court ordered Florida State University (FSU) to pay Jack Denton the salary he would have received as student senate president.

Denton was president of the Student Government Association Senate at FSU. But he was voted out of office in June, as leftist students were outraged over private comments he made in support of Church teaching on abortion and transgenderism.

This order comes in the form of a partial preliminary injunction nearly 40 days after faith-based nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed suit in a U.S. district court in Tallahassee.

Attorney Tyson Langhofer, who argued Denton's case, commented on Friday's development: "As the court found, FSU violated Jack's constitutionally protected freedom of speech and therefore cannot withhold his salary from him in his role as student senate president. We look forward to a final resolution for Jack."

The court stated in its injunction order that "the university may satisfy this injunction by paying Denton prospectively for six hours of work per week for the remainder of the current term of student senate president."

"It is no answer to say, as FSU does, that this is merely all part of the 'rough and tumble' of student politics, that Denton must develop thicker skin," the court order reads. "Denton is not here to complain about insults or hurt feelings. His claim is that he lost his job — his student government position — because he chose to exercise his First Amendment rights."

Though required to pay Denton his salary, the university is not being ordered to fully reinstate Denton as president of the student senate.

[kiryandil]

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