Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein LLP and the Mississippi Center for Justice Announce Settlement of Professor’s First Amendment Claims Against the University of Mississippi

Attorney Naomi R. Shatz, working with the Mississippi Center for Justice, has settled Professor Garrett Felber’s First Amendment claims against his former employer, the University of Mississippi. Dr. Felber was on the tenure track in the History Department at the University, where he studied twentieth-century African American social movements, Black Radicalism, and the carceral state. As was widely reported in the press, in December 2020 the University terminated Dr. Felber’s contract after he tweeted his opinion that the University had failed to appropriately address instances of racism at the school. Attorney Shatz had this to say about Dr. Felber’s termination: “We are concerned by recent instances of universities across the country ignoring and violating their faculty members’ rights to free speech and academic freedom. Professors like Dr. Felber have a Constitutional right to speak out about injustices they see in their institutions. The University’s decision has deprived it not only of an excellent professor, but of a valued member of its community.” Read the full press release here.