Posted on 05/26/2025 1:52:24 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Judge denies qualified immunity to four University of Central Florida administrators including president, tasks jury with considering punitive damages. Two have moved on to Texas Tech, Yale.
The University of Central Florida's outrage at a faculty member's assertion "Black privilege is real" could end up putting its top administrators at the mercy of a jury, sending a warning to campus bureaucrats nationwide not to overreact to minority views.
U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza denied qualified immunity to President Alexander Cartwright, Provost Michael Johnson, former College of Sciences Dean Tosha Dupras and former Office of Institutional Equity Director Nancy Myers in a First Amendment retaliation lawsuit by professor Charles Negy, leaving them open to personal liability.
"Defendants had ample time to make reasoned, thoughtful decisions regarding how they wished to proceed with the investigation" against Negy for his tweets in the wake of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis, and "the benefit of making those decisions with counsel," yet fired the tenured psychology professor anyway, Mendoza wrote.
He denied them summary judgment on Negy's demand for punitive damages, as a jury may find they "acted with reckless or callous indifference" to his constitutional rights.
Mendoza spared professor Kent Butler, then-chief equity, diversity, and inclusion officer, because he could not "effectuate" Negy's firing but only allegedly solicited complaints against him, issuing summary judgment in Butler's favor.
Myers got a half-victory, as Negy had also alleged she violated his free speech by investigating his in-class comments as "discriminatory harassment." Judge Mendoza granted her immunity because the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had not created a "clearly established" right shielding academic freedom from such investigations.
It's one of the worst First Amendment losses for public university administrators in recent years, perhaps matched only by University of Iowa officials twice losing qualified immunity...
(Excerpt) Read more at justthenews.com ...
What in the wide, wide world a sports is going on here?
And what does this mean in plain English?
Update:
Professor Negy is white. He was fired for criticizing the George Floyd riots. Talk about getting it backwards!!!
Negy received criticism after tweeting remarks about “black privilege” during the George Floyd protests, resulting in a petition for his termination from the University of Central Florida, which garnered over 26,000 signatures. Beginning in June 2020, Negy was placed under investigation for misconduct. On January 13, 2021, UCF announced that it intended to fire him for creating a hostile classroom environment, failing to report a sexual assault, deterring students from filing complaints, and providing false information during his investigation. Soon after, he was fired. In May 2022, that firing was overruled by an arbitrator, ordering that he be reinstated with tenure. The university accepted the ruling and said he would resume teaching in the Fall semester of 2022.
Actually during the George Floyd riots he tweeted “Black Privilege is real: Besides affirm. action, special scholarships and other set asides, being shielded from legitimate criticism is a privilege.”
The woke admins fired him for his tweet. In doing so they violated his freedom of speech. They did so without the 6 month notice period because they claimed he was a “safety risk”.
It went to arbitration and he was reinstated immediately. This is for damages. He should win. His case is a slam dunk.
Where exactly is the line between free speech and what this guy said?
Check this out - a UK woman posted how upset she was at what is happening to her country, deleted it right away, and is now in prison for 3 years for said comment. She has younger kids and a sick husband. I think she could have left one of her comments out but prison for 3 years??
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/05/trump-pressures-u-k-release-political-prisoner-lucy/
The is all what you get when you decide to transition a culture...like effing Obama said - The Fundamental Transformation...that his wealth protects him from.
negy is apparently a racist POS, and “judge” Carlos Mendoza is an obama stooge.
The dismissals were in favor of those who did not make the firing decision. Those responsible for the actual decision to fire will get to defend themselves in court and explain why they should not be liable for damages and punitive damages.
Since the university involved in the case, the University of Central Florida, is a state university, the particular bureaucrats alleged to have violated the professor's civil rights can be held personally liable.
The case will probably be negotiated to a good settlement for the fired professor, paid for by the university. If not settled, the case will go to trial, which will be a nightmare for the university and the individual defendants. The end result may then be a potentially large jury verdict in favor of the professor and possible sanctions from the Trump administration.
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.