Monday, July 12, 2010
Unsuccessful Iowa Legal Writing Faculty Candidate Appeals Dismissal of Suit Claiming Discrimination Due to Her Conservative Views
- Unsuccessful Iowa Legal Writing Faculty Candidate Sues, Claiming Discrimination Due to Her Conservative Views (Jan. 29, 2009)
- Judge Dismisses Claim by Unsuccessful Iowa Legal Writing Faculty Candidate Alleging Discrimination Due to Her Conservative Views (Apr. 2, 2010)
Teresa R. Wagner, Associate Director of the University of Iowa College of Law Writing Resource Center, has appealed the dismissal of her lawsuit to the Eighth Circuit. The National Association of Scholars has posted a number of documents in the case in “They So Despise Her Politics” -- Do Conservative Faculty Candidates Get a Fair Shake?:
If you have time to look at just one document, we recommend the first one, which is a half-page internal memorandum from the law school’s associate dean, Jon Carlson. Carlson expresses his puzzlement at the Faculty’s unwillingness to hire Wagner, even for a lesser position, and worries that this might have something to do with her political views:
Frankly, one thing that worries me is that some people may be opposed to Teresa serving in any role in part, at least, because they so despise her politics (and, especially, her activism about it). I hate to think that is the case, and I don’t actually think it is, but I’m worried that I may be missing something.
That’s as close to a smoking gun as one is likely to find in the academic world.
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2010/07/unsuccessful-iowa.html
Comments
In these sorts of things, the bias is so obvious that only a college professor and/or dean could possibly deny it. It's the primary reason I decided to stay out of academia. They're often so confident in their abilities, so convinced of the rightness of their political agenda that they are completely unable to see their own blindspots. Don't get me wrong, there are some academics who are willfully blind about this because it benefits them and their fellow travelers, but most of them are truly ignorant of their biases. Blind leading the blind. Insane.
Posted by: ern | Jul 13, 2010 9:37:43 AM
Hey Birchy, if Fox News "tells" you that employment discrimination suits are all evil, then you're hearing voices in your head. Please, put down the Kool Aid and start using your God-given intellect to reason it out for yourself.
Posted by: njoriole | Jul 13, 2010 8:08:09 AM
Link, Birchy? And a photo of your ass don't count, even if it's the actual source....
Posted by: SDN | Jul 13, 2010 7:55:33 AM
You really aren't going to get a more clear-cut case than this. Telling that Iowa destroyed the video.
Posted by: motionview | Jul 13, 2010 7:52:29 AM
Legal "Academic" Faculty - Witch Burning Kangaroo Court.
Why doesn't this surprise me? Because the overwhelming MAJORITY of legal faculty are liberal anti-constitutional unethical hacks. Perhaps this is too strong.
Naaaah, I'm certain there must have been SOME "objective" reason for their failure to want to hire this "conservative" legal mind.
Posted by: jgreene | Jul 13, 2010 7:51:59 AM
I didn't know Fox News has ever "told" anyone that employment discrimination suits are "all evil". A lame attempt at sarcasm often indicates that someone is slipping past an issue without addressing it. Birchy, is it ok for a state school to discriminate in employment based on political views? If so, under what circumstances? Which views?
Posted by: J. Miles | Jul 13, 2010 7:50:57 AM
Quote by Birchy:
"But Fox News tells me that employment discrimination suits are all evil. So confused."
When did they tell you that?
Posted by: Bob | Jul 13, 2010 7:49:20 AM
"But Fox News tells me that employment discrimination suits are all evil. So confused."
-when did FOXNews tell you that? There should be millions of other people who heard it, since FOXNews actually has an audience. Please find someone to corroborate your story.
Posted by: mike | Jul 13, 2010 7:29:02 AM
"But Fox News tells me that employment discrimination suits are all evil."
Really? When did they tell you that?
Or, did you just make it up?
Posted by: Rocin | Jul 13, 2010 7:19:07 AM
But Fox News tells me that employment discrimination suits are all evil. So confused.
Posted by: Birchy | Jul 13, 2010 6:30:41 AM
The problem here, I think, is that "conservative" law professors have shown little if any willingness to take on the liberal elite, preferring in most cases to protect their own careers and elite status. The almost comical willingness of some conservatives to endorse Elena Kagan, on the theory that she is a nice person and hired some of their friends at Harvard, is a textbook example. I think this woman is right, but I'll bet the ranch that she gets little if any help from the Federalist Society types, and will have to fight a lonely battle even if ultimately successful.
Posted by: mike livingston | Jul 13, 2010 6:28:37 AM
This is exactly the kind of blacklisting that happens in academia. There are hundreds of faculty around the country with this kind of boot on their necks. Sad but true.
Posted by: V for victory | Jul 13, 2010 11:31:20 AM