University of North Texas Must Pay Fired ‘Microaggression’ Professor $165,000

The University of North Texas has to pay a professor $165,000 in legal fees after administrators fired him for mocking “microaggressions.”

Dr. Nathaniel Hiers found some flyers about so-called microaggressions, a new word that describes “a comment or action” perceived by the paranoid of among us “that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group,” as Merriam-Webster defines it.

It’s worthy of mockery, and Dr. Hiers folded the flyers, placed them near a blackboard in the teachers’ lounge, and wrote, “Please don’t leave garbage lying around,” with an arrow pointing to the papers.

For this, the school fired him, because, of course, his actions fit the definition of microaggression. Alliance Defending Freedom, Dr. Hiers’s legal counsel, said the head of the math department canceled his contract to teach the following semester without notice.

Dr. Hiers sued the school for violating his First Amendment rights.

Rather than fighting it out in court, the University of North Texas settled with Dr. Hiers. The school will pay him $165,000 in legal fees — without admitting any wrongdoing. The school said in a statement that it will focus on students “who have chosen to invest their resources in pursuing an excellent education as part of our UNT family.”

ADF attorney Michael Ross said the First Amendment “guarantees Dr. Hiers—and every other American—the right to express his viewpoint without government punishment. We’re pleased to see this case settled favorably not only for Dr. Hiers but also to help protect freedom of speech for every student and teacher at public universities across the country.”

Photo credit: By Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, link

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4 comments

  1. $165K for legal fees? Is that all? UNT needs to be sued for lost salary, defamation of character, etc. Anything the lawyers can think of to bring legal action against not only the “school” but the folks who brought about his dismissal.
    Conservatives need to stop pussyfooting around these leftist clowns in education. Adopt their tactics whenever there is a possibility to do so. That is the only thing they can understand and make anyone else hesitate to fire others over 1st Amendment, or any other infringements on Constitutional rights.
    Just sayin’.

  2. Or: “Never argue with a fool; onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.” This whole thing is rikdiculous.

  3. There’s a guy running for Congress in Cali named Mr. Collins that desires to supply a twenty-five percent boost in pay for professors and correct our education and learning organization! Our primary or secondary schools are stuffed, our teachers are well-worn, and our pupils are falling back. Collins Education initiative claims it’s going to fund to restore our institutions, reduce some of the class sizes, add more revenue for special education packages and Probably none of these other sorry political leaders have policy to facilitate our youngsters, we got to give this gentleman a chance! Joe’s site is https://bit.ly/3dcobin visit his site

    • So instead of making $200,000 a year, collins wants professors to get $250,000 a year so Students will Learn Better? That is Crazy and will only fatten the bank accounts of Professors. Why not pay the students to Study Harder?