Conservative Widener Law Professor Sues Dean For Defamation

I've previously blogged about the messy situation at Widener Law School. 

Widener law professor Lawrence Connell has been placed on administrative leave as a result of student allegations that he engaged in "cursing and coarse behavior", made "racist and sexist statements" and offered hypotheticals featuring "violent, personal scenarios that demean and threaten" colleagues.  One repeated victim featured in the professor's Criminal Law murder hypos?  Dean Linda Ammons. 

In the complicated world of faculty disciplinary actions, it appears that there are two separate claims against Connell.  First, the administration is seeking dismissal for cause on the grounds that Connell impeded investigations into his conduct.  Second, students have filed discrimination and harrassment complaints against Connell.  The first action has been stayed while Connell faces a hearing on the student claims. 

But wait!  Professor Connell has taken the offensive.

On Friday, he filed suit against against Dean Ammons in Delaware Superior Court on the grounds of defamation.  The comlaint states that "Ammons is of the liberal political and legal persuasion....Ammons is proud and thin-skinned."  According to press reports, Connell also commented that "Ammons has destroyed my reputation because of my conservative, political and legal beliefs."

 Update: Thanks to a commentor, John Steele, we now know that the complaint is here.

Comments

[John Steele]

in case you're interested, the complaint is here:

http://www.nas.org/userfiles/file/Connell%20complaint%20FINAL%20(2).pdf

[Eric Muller]

Paragraph 15 of the complaint deserves to be in some sort of a museum.

[Nancy Rapoport]

Paragraph 21 & "manakin"???? Who writes complaints like this one????

[Orin Kerr]

Nancy, you mean you're not familiar with manakins? More here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manakin

[Dan Filler]

I am now thinking a lot about manakins with pumpkin heads. I suspect that the large head would make flight near impossible for a bird the size of a human finger.

[gus3]

"...when the Dean was Caucasian and when the Dean was African-American..."

Gotta love how legal documents make the impossible, possible.

[Kat]

I really hope that the students that were used to begin this pogrom haven't escaped ridicule, either from their classmates, or better, from the parents that have to pay the overly inflated tuition for these delicate flowers to be educated. Obviously, they are in dire need of smelling salts and a fainting couch, along with their books.
I had an English Prof who loved to assign papers on subjects like Nuclear Terrorism and whether or not hikers trapped in a cave-in should be prosecuted for eating the corpse of a fellow (not murdered) hiker. He expected us to address the subjects as adults, he treated us as adults, and I don't remember anyone acting as anything other than adults.
But seriously, they really do need to learn from this. You simply cannot go around ruining people's lives, lying, acting like children forever....Oh, wait, did I just describe the entire Liberal Left?

[Mike]

Well, after reading the complaint, I guess the Law Professor has a very good case and the lying witch is probably going to lose her cushy job over this.

Mike

[Gonzo]

Wow.

I went to the University of Colorado, and I think our 1st Year Crim Law professors had just about every member of the faculty doing some crime or another against each other in the classroom hypotheticals.

It almost strikes me as absurd that someone could claim with a straight face to take that kind of thing seriously.

[Tom Maguire]

At paragraph 78, as he describes the damages we find out that the aggrieved prof may not be able to simply Move On:

...such as monetary losses in the future, including lost wages, pension, and other benefits, such as over one million dollars in medical insurance benefits for plaintiff’s permanently disabled and institutionalized daughter.

Yike. I feel bad for the guy, and he may have a notable job-lock problem since the daughter seems to have pre-existing conditions.

[Anderson]

Three thoughts:

I recall law school hypotheticals that were far crazier, all involving professors from campus.

This appears to be an overstepped attempt to control and to hurt another person. The Dean's acts, if true, appear to speak very badly for her school and for academia.

Academic freedom for people on the right have long been under attack. If the allegations are true, the Dean appears to be a weak bureaucratic player. A better political actor would not have been this clumsy. (If she reads this, I hope she does not consider accusing me of being a "player."

[chip2man]

Shouldn't a lawyer working for a lawyer realize that December 2011 is in the future?