North Carolina professor was fired for criticizing critical race theory: Lawsuit
Jeremiah Poff
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A professor is suing the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction after he was allegedly fired for criticizing critical race theory while teaching at a state-organized summer program for incoming high school seniors.
The lawsuit, filed by the conservative free speech law group the Alliance Defending Freedom, says David Phillips, an English professor from North Carolina, was abruptly fired from his summer teaching job at the Governor’s School, a four-week program for high-performing high school seniors in North Carolina after he openly criticized critical race theory.
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Phillips had taught at the Governor’s School for eight years, the lawsuit says. On June 28, 2021, at the conclusion of an optional seminar on viewpoint diversity in higher education where Phillips noted that the presence of critical race theory and other similar ideas contributed greatly to a culture of monolithic thought, audience members peppered the professor with questions and criticized him for objecting to progressive ideas on race and culture.
The lawsuit says that Phillips “calmly” responded to questions for more than an hour and even offered to discuss the issues raised further in private meetings.
But the next day, Phillips was summoned by the administration of the Governor’s School and promptly fired. When he inquired about the reason for his termination, an administrator allegedly told him that he could not share that information.
In a press release, Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Hal Frampton said that academic environments should not be hostile to a diversity of opinions and that “no teacher should be fired for offering a reasoned critique of critical theory.”
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“There is no lawful explanation for the way North Carolina public school officials treated Dr. Phillips,” Frampton said. “He was beloved, respected, and regarded by both students and faculty as an advocate for students who felt that their voices weren’t being heard and their perspectives weren’t welcomed at the Governor’s School. By firing him, the Governor’s School violated his constitutional right to free speech and unlawfully retaliated against him for deviating from the Governor’s School’s ideological orthodoxy.”
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, which organizes the Governor’s School, did not respond to a request for comment.