An arbitrator has ruled that the University of Central Florida must give a professor it fired after tweeting about “black privilege” his job back, reports The College Fix:
Arbitrator Ben Falcigno ruled May 16 that the university did not have just cause to fire Charles Negy because he had received a parade of glowing teaching evaluations in recent years and administrators only moved to fire him after his controversial tweet about black privilege, never giving Negy a chance to improve his classroom pedagogy before his termination….Negy, 61, had taught at UCF since 1998, but the tenured associate professor of psychology was fired in January 2021.
Negy made headlines in the wake of George Floyd’s May 2020 death after he tweeted: “Black privilege is real: Besides affirm. action, special scholarships and other set asides, being shielded from legitimate criticism is a privilege.”
He also tweeted: “Sincere question: If Afr. Americans as a group, had the same behavioral profile as Asian Americans (on average, performing the best academically, having the highest income, committing the lowest crime, etc.), would we still be proclaiming ‘systematic racism’ exists?”
He has since deleted the tweets, but a petition demanding he be fired had garnered nearly 35,000 signatures and protesters even targeted him at his home. After that, university leadership denounced Negy in emails to students and solicited complaints that culminated in the 22-year veteran educator’s firing. Negy said he had to sell his house to make ends meet and lawyer up….
In Negy’s arbitration defense brief, his union attorney had pointed out that most of the professor’s annual evaluations in recent years garnered an overall rating of “outstanding” and that Negy had no prior discipline on his record, therefore the university cannot summarily fire him without first giving him a chance to improve. The arbitrator agreed…“I conclude that Dr. Negy demonstrated a willingness to entertain some change in his style of instruction; however, the record is devoid of any clear evidence that any member of his management requested such effort,” the ruling stated…
Negy… said despite the win, returning to campus this fall will be difficult. “There are rumors going around that UCF is planning to sink my ship when I go back,” he said. “Not to mention my colleagues won’t speak to me, and I am sure students will try to avoid me.”…
Negy said the situation is especially ironic because he was a “diversity hire” — he’s gay and half-Hispanic. But neither community has come to his defense amid the turmoil, he said. “You know how black people treat Larry Elder? Same phenomenon,” Negy said.
