Professor's dismissal subject to court battle

Academe, Nov/Dec 2002

In August 2002, University of South Florida president Judy Genshaft announced that the institution's trustees were seeking declaratory judgment in state court on whether firing Sami Al-Arian, a tenured faculty member, would violate his constitutional rights. USF's trustees had earlier recommended that Al-Arian be fired after a radio program publicized remarks he had made a decade ago in which he called for "death to Israel."

In September, Al-Arian responded to the administration's lawsuit by removing the case to federal court and asking that court to dismiss the suit because, in part, of the collective bargaining agreement that governs his employment with USE Under the terms of the agreement, a professor who is fired is entitled to challenge the termination in court or through arbitration.

In October, the administration filed its response in federal court, seeking to remand the case back to state court and, if it is not remanded, to deny Al-Arian's motion to dismiss the case. (For more information, see the "Report of Committee A 2001-02," on pages 53-56 of the September-October issue of Academe).