A professor of mathematics claiming that he faced “retaliation” for criticizing changes in academic standards on his Reno, Nevada College won the federal appeal.
Lars Jensen, a professor of mathematics at Trukee Meadows Community College (“TMCC”), filed a lawsuit against an administrator in January 2022, claiming that they reprimanded him and put him on a termination of termination after criticizing a change in politics at the Faculty, which resulted in academic standards of mathematical department.
While Jensen’s case rejected the District Court in 2023, on Monday he won a victory from the US appellant’s court for the ninth round. AND Ecclesiastical Rights Foundation and Expression (“Fire”) announced that the ninth round had canceled the District Court’s decision and sent the case back to a lower court for review.
“We conclude that the district court miscondified Jensen’s requests for retaliation from the first amendment,” Written opinion The judge Berzon was listed. “Furthermore, we conclude that Jensen did not properly declare the procedure and equal requirements for protection, but the District Court abused his discretionary right by denying Jensen’s leave to change. Accordingly, we reversed and return again.”
TRUCKEE Meadows Community College Professor Lars Jensen won the appeal on Monday. (FIRE)
In his legal appeal, Jensen claims that the faculty punished him after talking against a change of curriculum policy, adopted Nevada’s higher education system, which caused the TMCC Mathematics Department to lower his academic standards for certain courses.
During the “mathematics summit” in January 2020, Jensen claims that he tried to comment on politics during a session of questions and answers. However, Dr. Julie Ellsworth, Dean of Sciences from TMCC, reportedly denied Jensen’s request to speak and refer him to the white board that was provided to the participants in the publication of comments.
The complaint is said that Jensen went to his office and continued to imprint his concerns on the manual, claiming that politics would “lower” the academic level of the Math 120 course to allow students to complete the course at current rates. He claimed that lowering the standards would adversely affect the abilities of graduate and local community companies, who expect to hire qualified high school graduates.
Jensen says he distributed his written comments to the participants during the break, but Ellsworth collected his brochure and told Jensen that he could not distribute them. She says in a lawsuit that Jensen told her not to interfere with and leave the room to distribute the brochure in another room before returning to the conference room to continue distributing the brochure. At this point, Ellsworth faced Jensen and accused him of being a “abuser” and “disrespect” before telling him that he was “mistaken by defying her,” the appeal said.
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Mathematics professor Lars Jensen warned that lowering mathematical standards would adversely affect students. (East)
A week after this incident, Ellsworth issued a letter to Jensen. Jensen then sent the whole TMCC faculty to the e -a repeat concern about changes in academic standards. The official letter of reprimand was placed in his personal file on March 30, 2020, according to his appeal.
Jensen claims that he faced the pressure of Ellsworth to resign as chairman and member of the Committee for the Mandate of another professor. Ellsworth also began to cause concerns about Jensen’s “criminal” policies of teaching programs, which have existed for years, followed by other professors in the ward, which Ellsworth did not reprimand, according to the appeal.
After that, Jensen received two consecutive “unsatisfactory” performances of performance, which is the lowest possible grade, despite the recommendations of the department president that she had received a “excellent” rating. In the first assessment of performance, Ellsworth listed on Jensen’s “disobedience” in the Mathematical Conference list at the Mathematics Conference and his Policy Teaching Programs as his explanation for a low grade.
According to the guidelines of the higher education system, these performance examinations have launched a disciplinary hearing to determine if Jensen should release.
The appealing court reset rejected the lower court in the claim of a professor in the community of Nevada, the school avenged against his free speech. (East)
Fire wrote a letter warning of the faculty that they had violated Jensen’s first amendments, and TMCC later decided not Fire Jensen.
Jensen sued TMCC administrators in 2022, claiming that the Faculty’s criminal offenses violated First amendmentThe procedure and equal protection rights, but the district court dismissed the case in 2023, the fire said.
The ninth round verdict on Monday found that the district court was wrong to reject Jensen’s request for the first amendment, saying that his speech on lowering the academic standards in the curriculum was a issue of public concern and that he would be protected by the first amendment. The court also claimed that “the interest in punishing the disobedient employee for violating the command of his supervisor could not automatically overcome the interest of employees in speech.”
Fire and Jensen welcomed a recent ruling in a press release.
“This decision is the main victory for the right to speak of academic speech,” said fire lawyer Daniel Ortner, who claimed the case before the Ninth Circle Committee in November 2024. “This decision will protect the professors from the investigation or threaten to break up for their speech and promote responsibility for administrators who violate the first amendment.”
“Faculty procedures have extinguished my reputation and cooled my speech“Jensen also said.” The decision of the ninth round revenge on my rights of the first amendment and allows me to be in court. ”
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Jensen’s lawsuit cites several administrators of college of Truckee Meadows and former Chancellor of Nevada Higher Education System as defendants.
Trukee Meadows Community College spokesman said I couldn’t comment on waiting for litigation or staff questions.
Nevada Higher Education System did not respond to the Fox News Digital request for comment.
