Just months ago, FAU placed three professors on paid administrative leave over social-media posts related to conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. Now, one of the professors on leave is taking legal action against university officials, citing a violation of his free speech rights.
On Wednesday, FAU finance professor Rebel Cole filed a lawsuit against University President Adam Hasner and five other administrators, stating their involvement in his suspension. FAU placed Cole on leave on Sept. 15 while the university conducted its investigation into his social media activity, barring him from teaching and the classroom. The university also took action over social media posts from two others: art history professor Karen Leader and English professor Kate Polak. There is no clear timeline for how the investigations will play out for all three professors.
“We will fight for the First Amendment rights of faculty until we win. Fight with us, no matter on which side of the aisle you sit,” Cole wrote in a LinkedIn post sharing the lawsuit’s court order on Friday. Cole, a tenured faculty member and the Lynn Eminent Scholar Chaired Professor of Finance since 2016, declined to comment to the University Press. An FAU spokesperson said the university does not comment on pending litigation.
The filed lawsuit court records referenced social media comments shared in September, which came from Cole’s personal X account, formerly known as Twitter, following the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. Cole replied to a post by a user celebrating Kirk’s death, saying it was not free speech and that they were inciting riots.
“Dr. Cole again replied that the user should be ‘very afraid. We are going to hunt you down. We are going to identify you. Then we are going to make you radioactive to polite society. And we will make you both unemployed and unemployable,’” stated the lawsuit.
Cole and his legal team at Chaerr Jaffe, a law firm based in Washington, D.C., are taking action against university leaders. The lawsuit names President Hasner; Russell Ivy, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs; Stephen Engle, associate provost for academic personnel; Anita Pennathur, chair of the Department of Finance at the College of Business; Donald Neubaum, associate dean for faculty and administration; and Chee Ostinelli, assistant vice president of human resources.
“Dr. Cole suffered these harms not because he expressed a message that threatened anyone or disrupted the learning environment on campus, but because defendants – all of which are state actors – disagreed with the message he conveyed in his speech. The constitution forbids such blatant viewpoint discrimination, and Dr. Cole sues to make himself whole after his First Amendment rights were violated,” read the court order.
Zach Greenberg is part of the faculty legal defense and student association counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a nonprofit that advocates for free speech on college campuses. He told the University Press that the group recently contacted all three professors on leave, including Cole, to understand what had happened. He said that investigating professors for their speech creates a “chilling effect” on other faculty members.
“In general, public universities should inform both professors and students of the alleged misconduct before punishing them,” said Greenberg. “It’s a basic principle of due process that they should know what they are accused of doing so they can defend themselves.”
Greenberg spoke in general, not specifically, about Cole’s case. He said legal action is “certainly one tool that faculty have to defend their rights,” but added that most try to resolve disputes during the university disciplinary process because litigation is a very expensive and time-consuming process.
This story is developing and will be updated as new information becomes available.
