Professor fired for reporting black colleague who seemed to be in distress sues for defamation

Professor fired for reporting black colleague who seemed to be in distress sues for defamation

A Hispanic ex-professor who was fired after calling the police to help a black colleague after mistaking her for a person in distress, recently filed a constitutional lawsuit against Central Washington University.

The lawsuit alleges violations of the First Amendment as well as defamation and wrongful termination. It names as defendants the university, its President Jim Wohlpart, and several university officials.

Jose Riera, a non-tenured former professor in the Information Technology department, describes how he suffered harm and “extreme emotional distress” after being publicly accused of racism, in his court complaint, which was filed in federal district court in Yakima, Washington.

His complaint says he was fired in retaliation for reporting what he reasonably believed was a person in distress on CWU’s campus, resulting in police coming to the scene.

“Because this is a pending legal matter, CWU does not wish to comment at this time,” says a college spokesman.

The other defendants in the lawsuit have not made any public statements about the lawsuit.

A lawyer who specializes in First Amendment cases says the events described in the lawsuit raise “serious due process and free speech issues.” “Professors should not be punished by the universities for requesting good faith welfare checks,” says Zachary Greenberg, a lawyer employed by the Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.

“Universities can best balance safety and inclusivity by respecting the boundaries set by the First Amendment. These boundaries define the limits between protected expression and unprotected misconduct, which allows universities to protect the expression of political views and ensure campus safety by addressing true threats, substantial disruption, and discriminatory harassment,” Greenberg says.

The federal appeals court with jurisdiction over Washington State has said that the First Amendment protects speech by public employees, including professors, even if it is factually mistaken (see Johnson v. Multnomah County) and even if it offends college staff who are minorities (see Rodriguez v. Maricopa Community College District) or offends high-ranking college officials (see Bauer v. Sampson).

In his court complaint, Riera describes how he noticed a woman walking on campus appearing “confused” and distressed on a morning last Spring. Riera says he then acted in response to a college policy that says, “if you see something, say something,” a policy that led to him calling college police. When officers arrived, they asked the woman to identify herself, according to the Riera’s complaint.

The woman was Bobby Cummings, an 80-year-old blind African American professor and director of the university’s Africana and Black Studies program. Riera says he had never heard of Cummings before and did not even know she was black when he reported her being in distress.

After college police informed Riera that the woman was a professor told him she was fine, he felt relieved and “thought nothing further about the matter,” the lawsuit states.

But Cummings then reported Riera to university President Wohlpart, allegedly accusing Riera of racially profiling her. President Wohlpart then asked CWU’s Vice President of DEI, Lucinda Carnell to summon Riera to discuss the incident.

Riera’s court complaint says that during the meeting with Carnell, she accused him of racism, and told him to draft an apology to Professor Cummings, without even listening to his side of the story.

Later, President Wohlpart told a faculty senate meeting that Riera’s action was “unacceptable.” Riera’s court complaint says the meeting was livestreamed and recordings were available publicly on the university website, where they damaged Riera’s reputation.

Riera’s complaint describes him as “stunned” by the accusations, being Hispanic and “deeply committed to racial equality.” He alleges that he suffered severe emotional distress and extreme anxiety. He sought and was granted medical leave related to stress and anxiety caused by the aftermath of the incident.

But even as university officials were granting the medical-leave request, the dean of the College of Education overrode it, putting Riera on paid administrative leave instead, “pending an investigation into the alleged act of racial profiling.” Riera said then told of the dean’s decision, and was ordered to stay off university property “pending the investigation.”

Shortly thereafter, President Wohlpart sent a letter to the entire university about “an incident” involving an “employee,” a “most esteemed” colleague, who was racially profiled by college police. “As a university, we will be placing a stronger emphasis on bias training,” the letter said. “While this work will help us live more fully into our vision and mission, we deeply regret the incident and its impact on our colleague and university community.”

But during all this, Riera was never asked for his side of the story and “no investigation took place,” he just was assumed guilty, Riera’s court complaint says. “CWU was not interested in the truth but, rather, the opportunity to leverage the incident to advance its standing among diversity and inclusivity groups. It did so by ratifying rumor mill gossip, fanning the flames of racial division, and identifying Riera as the catalyst while publicly proclaiming its abhorrence for such conduct.”

LU Staff

LU Staff

Promoting and defending liberty, as defined by the nation’s founders, requires both facts and philosophical thought, transcending all elements of our culture, from partisan politics to social issues, the workings of government, and entertainment and off-duty interests. Liberty Unyielding is committed to bringing together voices that will fuel the flame of liberty, with a dialogue that is lively and informative.

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