Sunday, November 04, 2007

Leftist Australian University Pays up but Free Speech Loses

We read:

"A bitter battle between Queensland University of Technology and two senior academics is believed to have cost QUT almost $1 million. The university has now reached an out-of-court settlement with controversial QUT Creative Industries academics Gary MacLennan and John Hookham.

In a memo to staff on Monday, Creative Industries faculty Executive Dean Professor Susan Street said QUT had reached a settlement with the senior lecturers, who were suspended without pay for six months in June for their outspoken criticisms of a PhD film project formerly entitled Laughing at the Disabled. Their pay was later reinstated.

University sources suggested yesterday the fiasco had cost QUT close to $1 million, with legal fees, legal costs for the academics and payouts to the two believed to be close to $200,000 each. In addition, QUT has been paying the pair full salaries since June.

Dr Hookham and Dr MacLennan would not be returning to the faculty, Professor Street's memo said.

Source

Only a return to their jobs would have cancelled out the harm to free speech done by their firing. They were fired for publicly criticizing an offensive far-Left media project.