Adams State University has agreed to rescind a “no trespass order” banning a former professor who criticized administration practices, from its Alamosa campus and to pay $100,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the ACLU based on claims that the university violated free speech and due process rights.
“By summarily banning Danny (Ledonne) from a public campus and falsely labeling him a security threat, without providing any opportunity to rebut the false allegations, the university deprived him of due process and unjustifiably retaliated against him for his constitutionally-protected criticism of university practices,” ACLU of Colorado said.
From May 2011 to June 2015, Ledonne taught in the mass communications program and performed video production work for Adams State. In September 2015, after his employment at the university had ended, he launched WatchingAdams.org and Ledonne posted a series of articles on the site criticizing the pay disparity between faculty and the administration and alleging that Adams State had violated the Colorado Wage Act by not making timely payments to adjunct professors.
Two days later, university President Beverlee McClure banned Ledonne from Adams State.
McClure made unsubstantiated public claims that Ledonne had engaged in “harassment,” “direct and indirect threats,” and “terrorism,” the ACLU said.