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| Judge Denies Churchill's Request For Reinstatement At CU |
| 2009-07-07 |
| Learning at the University of Colorado will go on without Ward Churchill. On Tuesday Chief Denver District Court Judge Larry Naves denied Churchill's motion for reinstatement of employment as well as any "front" pay. It was part of a decision where Naves granted CU and the Board of Regents immunity from being sued, which vacates the jury verdict from April of this year. Churchill essentially got nothing. “We believe the judge appropriately applied the law to recognize the Board of Regents’ role as a quasi-judicial body. This ruling recognizes that the regents have to make important and difficult decisions. The threat of litigation should not be used to influence those decisions,” said University of Colorado President Bruce D. Benson on Tuesday. The ethnic studies professor had sued CU in an attempt to regain his teaching post. Churchill was fired in 2007, following a two-year investigation into allegations Churchill fabricated some of his scholarly publications. But a Denver jury in April 2009 ruled the school had only fired him after controversy erupted surrounding an essay he'd written in September 2001, comparing the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to a Nazi leader. That ruling included only a symbolic damage award of $1. In court last week, Churchill testified that money was not his motivation for this lawsuit. On Tuesday, Naves ruled "because quasi-judicial immunity was a 'defense that would have been applicable to any of its officials or employees' it is a defense available to the University and the Board of Regents. In this case, it is clear that the Board of Regents performed a quasi-judicial function and acted in a quasi-judicial capacity when it heard Professor Churchill's case and terminated his employment." "Based on the foregoing, it is hereby ORDERED that Defendants are GRANTED quasi-judicial immunity as a matter of law from Professor Churchill's second claim for relief. As a result, the jury's verdict in this matter is hereby VACATED, and judgment is hereby entered in favor of Defendants on Professor Churchill's Second Claim for Relief." Naves went on write: "If I granted reinstatement I believe there is a substantial likelihood that there would be future disputes about the propriety of Professor Churchill’s academic conduct... Under these circumstances and recognizing that the University’s faculty must have the ability to define the standards of scholarship, I am persuaded that reinstatement is not an appropriate remedy in this case... The same 'sharply conflicting evidence' about Professor Churchill’s job performance and the fundamental disagreements between the parties lead me to conclude that 'an absence of mutual trust' makes reinstatement unfeasible." |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #5 wanna buy a pic of me in a Che beret, wayfarers, and an AK47? Way cool! Only a buck, man. I'll autograph it for a quarter, "Little Eichmann's" for 50 cents |
| Posted by: Ward Churchill 2009-07-07 19:37 |
| #4 In court last week, Churchill testified that money was not his motivation for this lawsuit. Nah. Never is. Especially with a guy as employable as The Chief. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2009-07-07 19:17 |
| #3 Churchill testified that money was not his motivation for this lawsuit. Whenever they say it's not the money, it's the money. |
| Posted by: Formerly Dan 2009-07-07 19:09 |
| #2 "But a Denver jury in April 2009 ruled the school had only fired him after controversy erupted surrounding an essay he'd written in September 2001, comparing the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to a Nazi leader." That is criminally insane. |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-07-07 18:37 |
| #1 The entire concept of tenure should be abolished. It has no place in the modern world. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2009-07-07 18:26 |