Lawrence Connell, the tenured Widener University law professor who sued his school’s dean and two students, has settled his lawsuit.
“All claims amongst all parties have been resolved amicably and Professor Connell’s employment with the University and Law School has been concluded,” a statement from his attorney said. “Specific terms of the resolution are confidential.”
Connell had sued Dean Linda Ammons, accusing her of intentionally making false statements and claiming that she had “destroyed” his reputation because of his “conservative political and legal beliefs.” He had also sued two students, Jennifer Perez and Nadege Tandoh, who had filed harassment claims against the criminal law professor. He later added breach of contract claims against the school for $1.8 million — the amount of wages and benefits he would have received working until age 70.
It is unclear whether Connell received any money from the private university.
The feud started in December 2010 when Ammons, who is black, placed Connell, who is white, on leave with pay for allegedly making racist and sexist comments and using offensive language in his criminal law class. She also banned him from campus.
Students in Connell’s Spring 2010 and Fall 2010 classes complained that he used “excessive profanity,” referred to African Americans as “black folks,” referred to a female police officer as a “honey,” and used a hypothetical in which Connell tried to kill Ammons but instead shot a pumpkin that looked like her.
Last March, a law school tenured faculty committee recommended that the university not pursue dismissal of Connell, citing academic freedom. But Perez and Tandoh, both minority women, then filed claims under the university’s discrimination and harassment code.
A faculty committee found Connell innocent of those charges over the summer, but guilty of retaliation against the students and the school related to the original charges. Connell had circulated emails to all students explaining that he was taking administrative leave, but also stating that he would sue the students who filed the complaint.
He was ordered to take a year off without pay, undergo psychiatric evaluation, anger management and apologize to the Perez and Tandoh.
Connell sued for breach of contract and defamation rather than abide by the order, and made it clear that he would no longer teach at the school.
“That is a termination,” Connell’s attorney Thomas Neuberger said at the time. “The reason they don’t call it that is as a tenured law professor he should get a trial before the faculty.”
Connell, who has been at the school for 26 year, started looking for work elsewhere.
The case drew interest from tenured faculty across the nation because the original charges were related to comments that Connell made in class. Neuberger said his client received lots of support from across the nation.
Connell said he used shocking language and hypotheticals as a teaching method to make a memorable point about the legal concept of criminal intent in a homicide case.
