A Scottsdale Community College professor who was accused of teaching material that condemned Islam will receive $155,000 after reaching a settlement with the Maricopa Community College District.
Professor Nicholas Damask sent the district a notice of claim in October after a lawsuit against him and the college was dismissed. The claim says the professor s reputation, as well as his and his family s safety, was jeopardized when the district failed to publicly defend his academic freedom.
Damask s attorney said the professor tried to resolve the issue with the district without filing a notice of claim. In those unsuccessful efforts, he asked the district for $250,000, which his attorney said is about half of what comparable defamation claims have earned. Damask also tried getting an additional $3,500 for attorney fees.
District, chamber team to support workforce
glendalestar.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from glendalestar.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Lone Star College selects Melissa Gonzalez as Kingwood campus president
bizjournals.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bizjournals.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Nick Damask
Sabra and the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Arizona (CAIR) also launched a lawsuit over Damask s lesson last year in Arizona U.S. District Court on First Amendment grounds, but it got thrown out in August by Judge Susan Brnovich, who ruled that the class material never interfered with Sabra s personal right to practice his religion. Sabra is appealing the ruling, still hoping to someday secure a court order to delete material in the class that has the primary effect of disapproving of Islam.
District officials who oversee operations at SCC and nine other colleges eventually got involved on Damask s behalf, but only after the national nonprofit group Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) sent a letter ripping the county college system for trampling academic freedoms.