BY HANK REICHMAN

Two faculty members dismissed from their positions in apparent violation of their academic freedom have won restitution.  A professor in Kentucky, who had criticized the governor’s Medicaid plan, won a substantial financial settlement and a return to his university, while a California community college professor fired for challenging student beliefs about sexuality was reinstated last month by an arbitrator.

In the Kentucky case, Dr. Raynor Mullins alleged in a lawsuit that he was fired by dean of the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry, Dr. Stephanos Kyrkanides, after he and other colleagues filed public comments in 2016 opposing Governor Matt Bevin’s plan to overhaul Medicaid and eliminate basic dental and vision coverage.  Kyrkanides told Mullins that Bevin was angry over the comments, according to the lawsuit.  Although the university did not acknowledge wrongdoing (nor did Mullins), a $620,000 payout might suggest otherwise.  The university confirmed that under the settlement Mullins will also return to the university.

Mullins filed the federal lawsuit in August 2017.  In September, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Wier allowed the case to proceed to trial, calling it an “epic story of academic intrigue.”  The settlement was finalized last week in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

According to the suit, the dean consulted with other faculty members on the best way to “get rid” of Mullins and then fired him from his post-retirement job at the UK Center for Oral Health Research.  Mullins alleged Kyrkanides told him it was a very bad strategy to upset the governor.

In California, an arbitrator found last month that Moreno Valley College in Riverside made unfounded claims against Professor Eric Thompson.  The conservative professor was fired for challenging students’ liberal views on marriage, gender roles, and sexual orientation while the Supreme Court was hearing arguments for the legalization of gay marriage.  Thompson had taught at the school since 2005 and was twice named “Faculty of the Year.”  He introduced conservative views to his students during class discussions on human sexuality in his sociology classes and asked them to defend their assumptions and beliefs.  He also circulated a film that suggests homosexuality might be a choice rather than biologically determined.  The college said his actions were immoral and students said they considered challenging their views to be “harassment” and “dangerous.”