Judge rules that Churchill should not be reinstated as CU professor

  Ward Churchill (AP Photo/Mark Leffingwell, Pool)

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Chief Denver District Judge Larry Naves issued a ruling today that controversial professor Ward Churchill does not have a right to return to his job at the University of Colorado.

Additionally, Naves ordered that Churchill be awarded nothing in money damages; a jury in April had determined CU had unlawfully fired Churchill but recommended an award of a mere $1. Shortly after the jury’s verdict, Churchill stated he wanted $1 million in damages (for a projected 10 years of lost pay) if he could not return to his professorship.

While Naves’ ruling may seem to contradict the jury’s finding of guilt on the part of the university, Naves insists that his decision was made as a result of the jury’s verdict:

"If I am required to enter an order that is 'consistent with the jury's findings,' I cannot order a remedy that 'disregard the jury's implicit finding' that Professor Churchill has suffered no actual damages that an award of reinstatement would prospectively remedy.”

Naves also cites the broken relationship between the professor and his former employer as a reason it would be imprudent to reinstate Churchill. Additionally, Naves wrote, the regents, as administrators of the university, “performed a quasi-judicial function” in their dismissal of Churchill and therefore should not be subject to litigation.

Churchill claimed his dismissal was a violation of his First Amendment rights after a furor caused by his essay, which included a comparison of 9/11 victims to Nazi Adolf Eichmann. CU contends that Churchill was dismissed for research misconduct, including allegations of plagiarism and fabrication.

Churchill has 45 days to appeal the verdict.