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September 22, 2007
Another Instructor Fired Out of Fear of Legal Action (perhaps)
Chris Heard has a must read post on teaching the Genesis creation accounts. But the most interesting and, if true, appalling part of his story concerns the firing of an instructor at Southwestern Community College in Red Oak, Iowa, for teaching "that the biblical story of Adam and Eve should not be literally interpreted." He had the nerve to say such a thing to a Western civilization class.
Steve Bitterman, the instructor who was fired, told the news that that he referred to the Adam and Eve story as a "fairy tale." While "fairy tale" may not be the correct literary genre, it does reflect what I think is the proper attitude to take towards details of the story. But fundamentalists sure don't want to hear such thinks. Bitterman believes he was fired out of fear of legal action.
Chris makes the following observations,
If Bitterman’s firing really was about the way he treated Genesis in his Western civilization course—and as far as I know, there has been no further comment from the school administration to the contrary, beyond the vague denial reprinted above—the school’s actions are reprehensible (and probably legally actionable as well, though I’m not really competent to speak on legal matters). One would think that if there were other serious reasons to fire Bitterman, the school wouldn’t have put him on the teaching rotation for the current term. The fact that the course is close-circuited over to another campus certainly suggests that they don’t have much depth in the bullpen. The timing is also suspicious. I’ll be surprised if Southwest comes out with a really convincing defense of Bitterman’s firing, but time will tell.
I worry that administrators make many such decisions using cost-benefit analysis. In the end, it may just be cheaper and less risky to fight an instructor in court than it is to fight the fundamentalists. Consider this thought process: The worst thing that can happen if the instructor sues you (and it is an "if", he may worry about the career implications of suing his employer), is that he gets his job back with back pay and then the fundamentalist may sue you. If the fundamentalists sue you and win, then the cost, both monetary and from a PR perspective, is uncertain but if part of the settlement is firing the instructor then he may sue you. Even if you win, the legal costs of defending against the instructor and his lone attorney are likely less than the legal cost of defending against the fundamentalists and their pro bono resources who may appeal every decision that doesn't go their way.
Posted by Duane Smith at September 22, 2007 3:11 PM | Read more on Hebrew Bible |
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Comments
Croc tears.
If an instructor in the California public school system referred to Darwinism as a fairy tale, ...
Posted by: Looney at September 25, 2007 1:51 PM
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