LAWSUIT: PROF. FLOR Denied Due Process & Railroaded by UofNEW MEXICO. How Can Americans Be OK With This Injustice?
Nick Flor, the University of New Mexico professor suspended without pay after wrongly being found responsible for sexual harassment, has filed a lawsuit against the university in New Mexico state court for violating his due process rights. From day one, UNM administrators have acted with utter disregard both for the undisputed facts of the case and for the due process to which Flor is entitled. Flor is now asking a court to remedy this injustice.
Flor’s lawsuit details how he struck up a “flirtatious” and ultimately “explicit” email relationship with a 35-year-old graduate student at UNM after the two briefly met in person in May 2018. When Flor, who is married, tried to end the email exchange after several weeks, Doe began threatening to expose their emails to Flor’s department chair and others at the university. He said the university violated his due process rights during its investigation. Flor denied that he violated any policies, and his attorney said he wasn’t given a fair chance to defend himself.
After a sham process in which he was given no hearing and no opportunity to confront his accuser, Flor was suspended for a year without pay. Worse yet, the university is subjecting him to its faculty “outside work” policy, under which he cannot work more than 39 days at any other job while employed by the university. However, during his suspension, he can neither work at the university, nor is he paid.
As Flor’s complaint explains, “The University’s sanction, therefore, requires Plaintiff, who is the sole wage earner for his family, to either not work for an entire year and earn no income, or to quit.” …“It is just unfathomable to me that a tenured professor could have this type of suspension – it’s essentially a termination – and have no hearing at all,” said Nicholas Hart, Flor’s attorney. The lawsuit is seeking an order preventing UNM from imposing the suspension and disclosing Flor’s employment records reflecting his policy violations. It is also seeking the violations be expunged from his employment records and other damages.
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