A former UNC-Chapel Hill business professor is suing the university for retaliation after his contract was not renewed this summer, a move that followed administrators recording the professor’s classes without notice to him.
Larry Chavis, who worked as a clinical professor in the Kenan-Flagler Business School for 18 years, filed the federal lawsuit Thursday.
In the complaint, he alleges the university used “unlawful and unconstitutional employment practices” against him in violation of the First Amendment. He also alleges the university ended his employment in retaliation “for his public criticisms” of the university after he learned that business school administrators had recorded several of his lectures this spring and for his comments “regarding discriminatory practices at the business school.”
“The timing of Chavis’ firing creates a clear inference that the exercise of his First Amendment speech rights and his denunciation of discriminatory conduct caused UNC to end Chavis’ 18-year career at the business school,” the lawsuit states.