UNT settles former adjunct instructor’s lawsuit for $165K

In a settlement to conclude a lawsuit, the University of North Texas paid $165,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees in the case of a former adjunct instructor who alleged his First Amendment rights were violated when the institution effectively fired him after he wrote a criticism of a flier that explained microaggressions. The settlement agreement in the case of the adjunct, Nathaniel Hiers, was filed on Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. It is a victory for free speech on public university campuses, Hiers’ attorneys at the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Scottsdale, Arizona-headquartered organization, said. “The First Amendment guarantees Dr. Hiers — and every other American — the right to express his viewpoint without government punishment,” Michael Ross, the organization’s legal counsel, wrote in a statement.

A university spokesperson said the settlement, in which the lawsuit is dismissed, avoids continued legal quarrel. “As a university that prepares its students for success in a global economy, it is vitally important that our faculty understand perspectives and experiences different from their own,” according to a university statement. “Our settlement allows the university to return our focus where it belongs with the students who have chosen to invest their resources in pursuing an excellent education as part of our UNT family. We remain steadfast in our commitment to our faculty members’ rights to free expression and to our students’ rights to an inclusive, nondiscriminatory educational environment, and we are fully committed to ensuring that both can — and will — coexist at the University of North Texas.”