|
« AAUP Homepage
|
Virginia State Pays $600,000 to Settle Suit
By Gwendolyn Bradley
Virginia State University agreed in January to pay $600,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by professor Jean Cobbs, who was dismissed from the faculty two years ago. The university also reinstated Cobbs; she immediately resigned. Cobbs, a tenured professor of sociology and social work, was dismissed in 2005 after a post-tenure review process that found her guilty of unspecified “professional misconduct. ”Cobbs claimed that she had incurred the displeasure of administrators in part because of her conservative political beliefs and Republican Party activism. The AAUP investigated the case, along with a second case at the same institution, and in a 2005 report found that in both cases the university had been guilty of gross departures from academic due process. In June of that year, the AAUP annual meeting voted to place the administration of Virginia State University on the list of censured administrations.
|