Loading ...University of Illinois to pay Steven Salaita $600,000 over revoked job offer
University of Illinois trustees on Thursday approved a $600,000 settlement with Steven Salaita, the controversial professor whose job offer was rescinded last year over his string of anti-Israel comments on social media.
The university also will pay $275,000 to Salaita’s attorneys to end the 14-month dispute, which already has cost the U. of I. about $1.3 million in legal fees related to lawsuits that Salaita filed after he lost the tenured faculty position.
Salaita has agreed to drop the lawsuits against the university, including a federal suit that alleged breach of contract and violation of his free speech rights. The settlement also makes it clear that Salaita would not get a job at the university now or in the future.
Trustees voted 9-1 to approve the agreement, in which the university admits no wrongdoing, at their regularly scheduled board meeting in Chicago. The settlement will be paid for by self-insurance and institutional funds, which includes some taxpayer money.
“The university believes that reaching a settlement with Dr. Salaita is the most reasonable option to fully and finally conclude all the pending issues,” Urbana-Champaign interim Chancellor Barbara Wilson said in a statement. “Although the amount is significant, it is less than what we would spend if the case were to continue and proceed to trial over the next year.”
In an emailed statement, Salaita called the settlement “a vindication” for himself and a “victory for academic freedom and the First Amendment.”
Source: www.chicagotribune.com