The College of the Mainland has settled a termination lawsuit brought by a union officer who spoke out against policy changes at the Texas City institution. David Michael Smith, a tenured professor and union activist, was fired by the college trustees in August 2013, the Galveston County Daily News reported. Smith sued, alleging retaliation and violation of his free speech rights. From a news release put out by Jeanette Slaughter, who has also butted heads with the college: On December 29, 2014, College of the Mainland in Texas City, Texas finalized the settlement of the lawsuit brought by Dr. David Michael Smith after his termination in August 2013. The Galveston County Daily News reported the amount of the settlement as $255,000.00. Smith, a tenured political science professor who was-and remains-president of the colleges employee union, was terminated for insubordination and disrespectful behavior. Dozens of students and community members protested against the termination, which the then-editor of the Daily News, the local AFL-CIO, and the American Association of University Professors had opposed. The termination came just months after the College, long beset by labor-management disputes, settled a First Amendment lawsuit filed by Smith after he received a disciplinary action for speaking from the floor at a Board of Trustees meeting. Previously, a federal district judge issued a preliminary injunction against the College in 2010 for preventing Smith and his wife Rona from speaking during public comments at a Board meeting. That case, too, was settled. In sum, all three suits brought by Smith were resolved out-of-court. As Smith recently told the Houston Chronicle, The current Board is intent on turning a traditionally progressive institution of higher learning into a Wal-Mart. During the past seven years, the College has been sued 26 times by students, faculty, and staff. A total of six lawsuits have been settled, 14 have been dismissed, and six are currently pending. The total cost to the College has been around $4 million. As union vice president Jeanette Slaughter stated, All the mistreatment of employees and students has led to a huge loss of community support, including the defeat of two bond elections. But the employee union, the local AFL-CIO, and people in the community will continue to work together to change the direction of the college. In a related development, publisher Leonard Woolsey of the Galveston County Daily News informed Smith on January 5 that his weekly column would be dropped. Woolsey told Smith his columns-which discussed the living wage movement, immigration, police brutality, racist militias, health care reform, and problems with the Republican Party, among other topics-were polarizing. Smith pointed out there had been more letters of support for his column than critical letters, and asked Woolsey whose interests he was representing. Ironically, Smiths most recent column was titled, Censorship Never Works Out Well.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 14:44:45 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015