A third Collin College professor is suing the school, alleging that he was fired for publicly criticizing the college’s COVID-19 plans and advocating for the removal of Confederate statues.
Phillips is being represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a legal group that represents students and faculty in free speech legal issues on college campuses across the country. The group also represented two other former professors who have sued Collin.for public statements she made about former Vice President Mike Pence.
Marisela Cadena-Smith, a spokesperson for the school, said in a statement that the college looks forward to defending its case against Phillips in court. Phillips’ lawsuit says his issues with the college began in August 2017 when he co-wrote an open letter calling for the removal of Confederate monuments in Dallas. The school told him that writing the letter violated the school’s policy “because it was ‘something that made the college look bad’ and mentioned his institutional affiliation,” the lawsuit reads.
According to the lawsuit, administrators said such interviews violated the school’s policies because faculty are identified as Collin College professors, even if they are speaking as private citizens. He posted the picture of the slide and wrote, “Note what we were told about discussing masks and Covid with students at my college today.” He was issued a “Level 1 warning” for the posts, while also citing previous issues.
According to the lawsuit, Chaelle O’Quin, associate dean of academic affairs, told Phillips that students complained about his comments about mask-wearing and he was placed on a “performance improvement plan.”