Muslim Students Rights Upheld
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http://www.thefire.org/index.php/article/6552.html
WAYNE, N.J., December 7, 2005-A Muslim student employee at William
Paterson University (WPU) in New Jersey has finally been cleared of
baseless sexual harassment charges. With the help of the Foundation
for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), Jihad Daniel forced the
public university to officially revoke the punishment it inflicted
on him after he expressed his religious opinion of homosexuality in
a private e-mail to a professor.
"This is a great day for religious and expressive freedom on
campus," said FIRE President David French. "WPU has finally come to
its senses and recognized that the First Amendment's protection for
expressing religious views trumps petty state or university
policies."
WPU's shameful attack on the 63-year-old Daniel's rights began after
he privately replied to an unsolicited March 7 mass e-mail from
Professor Arlene Holpp Scala promoting a viewing and discussion of a
film described as "a lesbian relationship story." Daniel's March 8 e-
mail to Professor Scala requested that he not be sent "any mail
about `Connie and Sally' and `Adam and Steve.'" Daniel went
on, "These are perversions. The absence of God in higher education
brings on confusion. That is why in these classes the Creator of the
heavens and the earth is never mentioned."
By June 15, Daniel had received a letter of reprimand in his
permanent file saying that since the word "perversion"
was "derogatory or demeaning," he was guilty of violating state
discrimination and harassment regulations. Daniel appealed to WPU
President Arnold Speert, arguing that the First Amendment protected
his speech, only to be told that such an argument was "beyond the
scope" of the finding.
"Honoring the Constitution is not beyond the scope of any public
official's duty," noted FIRE's French, "and to call an e-mail like
this `sexual harassment' dangerously trivializes real harassment."
Daniel contacted FIRE, which on July 5 wrote Speert in protest and
reminded him that state college administrators "cannot simply choose
to ignore the First Amendment when it becomes inconvenient." New
Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey's office responded to FIRE,
absurdly asserting that "speech which violates a non-discrimination
policy is not protected." FIRE then took the case public, resulting
in national condemnation of the university, while Daniel appealed
the finding through a union grievance process.
On November 16, Daniel's hearing took place with able representation
from the Communication Workers of America Local 1031. Yesterday,
Daniel received notification that the hearing officer had determined
that the sexual harassment charge was "not supported" and that the
letter would be removed from his personnel file. Moreover, the
hearing officer clearly stated that Daniel's one-time expression of
a personal religious belief was not "harassment." Daniel did receive
a purely verbal reprimand for sending the e-mail while at work.
"Nobody should have to go through what Mr. Daniel did merely for
expressing religious beliefs in a nonviolent and non-threatening
way," remarked FIRE's French. "The harassment charge was ridiculous
from the beginning, and the many attempts to pass the buck on
upholding the First Amendment were deplorable."
French concluded, "We hope that WPU and the state of New Jersey will
make the policy changes necessary to ensure that this does not
happen again to another person-because if it does, it's more than
likely to end up in court."
FIRE is a nonprofit educational foundation that unites civil rights
and civil liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public
intellectuals from across the political and ideological spectrum on
behalf of individual rights, due process, freedom of expression,
academic freedom, and rights of conscience at our nation's colleges
and universities.
FIRE's efforts to preserve liberty at William Paterson University
can be viewed at thefire.org/wpunj.