Texas State Must Reinstate Fired Prof, Court Rules

A federal court judge ruled Monday that Idris Robinson—a philosophy professor at Texas State University who was fired for an unaffiliated, out-of-state talk he gave about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a year prior—must be reinstated with pay, Daily Nous reported. 

The reinstatement must last for one year or until the end of his trial, whichever comes first, according to a news release from the Texas State Employees Union. 

“According to notes taken during the hearing, Judge Albright stated, ‘Given that the state really hasn’t made an effort to argue that the speech that the plaintiff gave [wasn’t] in some role or another a motivating factor [in the plaintiff’s firing]—I don’t know that they could, given the fact that he was suspended immediately after the speech and told that it was because he exercised his right to First Amendment—I’m going to order that the university maintain his employment contract for one year or until the case resolves, whichever is sooner,’” the news release stated. 

A union spokesperson called the ruling “an enormous victory” for Robinson and “anyone else who cares about protecting free speech and dissent in Texas.”