“Today, I did something that would have been inconceivable a year ago—I’ve sued Texas A&M to hold it accountable for violations of my Constitutional rights to free speech and due process of law,” McCoul said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
A former professor at Texas A&M University has filed a lawsuit claiming that she lost her job after the administrators caved to political pressure.
According to ABC News, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of plaintiff Melissa McCoul.
McCoul was a senior lecturer in Texas A&M University’s English department.
At the time of her firing, she had more than a decade of teaching experience. Last year, one of McCoul’s students secretly filmed one of the professor’s lectures on gender identity during a summer course taught to schoolchildren. After the footage went viral, conservative lawmakers—including Texas state Gov. Greg Abbott—began calling for McCoul’s immediate termination.
In the video, a student can be heard questioning whether an in-class discussion on gender identity was still legal under a recently-issued executive order.
The Texas Tribune notes that the state has no laws against teaching gender identity.
McCoul has since clarified that the summer course was never “intended as an overview of books that educators or parents might read with or to children” but as “a lens through which various aspects of society are examined.”
ABC News adds that the video quickly proved contentious, potentially leading to the resignation of then-university president Mark Welsh. Texas A&M University has reaffirmed its decision to fire McCoul, but two independent organizations have since determined that the termination lacked cause and likely violated McCoul’s right to due process.
“Today, I did something that would have been inconceivable a year ago—I’ve sued Texas A&M to hold it accountable for violations of my Constitutional rights to free speech and due process of law,” McCoul said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
McCoul has resisted allegations that she failed to adhere to new university guidance on gender-related topics, saying her class was “100 percent aligned with the catalog description, course description.”
“The explanations offered for Dr. McCoul’s termination are inconsistent and nonsensical because they are untrue,” the lawsuit alleges. “Dr. McCoul was terminated because of the so-called ‘liberal,’ ‘woke’ themes she explored in her courses.”
McCoul, who had been employed by the university since 2017, said that she is seeking reinstatement to her previous position and monetary damages.
“There’s no satisfaction in doing this, only sadness,” she said of her decision to sue. “I had hoped to keep doing that work for many years to come.”
“Despite how I was treated, I still love this institution, my former colleagues, and the students of A&M,” McCoul said. “I hope that this lawsuit will cause the University to think twice about treating others similarly.”
Sources
Texas A&M professor files lawsuit after firing over gender identity lesson
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