A college professor from Florida says he was fired because of his controversial beliefs. The professor filed a wrongful termination lawsuit after he was fired regarding his belief that the Newtown massacre was fake. Florida Atlantic University has responded, saying that they did not fire the professor because of conspiracy theories. Instead, they say that they fired him for insubordination.
The professor posted blog articles online to promote his view that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting — which resulted in 26 deaths — was a staged event. Florida Atlantic College said that they advised the professor that he could continue spreading his beliefs online, but they asked him to make sure he did not associate himself with FAU.
The college further alleged that the professor failed to file special forms regarding the work he was doing outside the school, which is why the school eventually terminated the man for behavior it classifies as “insubordination.”
The professor says that he did not refuse to complete the forms. Rather, he was confused by them, which he says were not clear. He says that his termination represented a violation of his First Amendment rights. Will the professor win his case? As with any controversial wrongful termination lawsuit, only time will tell how the court will decide this matter.
If you feel that you were wrongfully terminated from your job, it’s important to investigate what happened from a legal perspective. You might be able to protect your employment rightsand seek financial compensation and other remedies in court if specific laws were violated during your firing.
Source: New York Daily News, “Florida professor who claimed Sandy Hook massacre was hoax fired for ‘insubordination,’ school official testifies,” David Boroff, accessed Dec. 06, 2017
