Rejected Professor Salaita Wants U. of I. Job or Else He'll Sue

[Xithras]

25. Maybe, maybe not. It's an interesting case.

The case actually opens up an interesting legal question. Does the government have the right to filter prospective employees based on their personal worldviews?

By extending the original job offer, the university indicated, in an undeniable fashion, that he met all of the qualifications for the position AND that he was the top candidate. The chancellors decision to withdraw the offer, and the boards decision to reject the appointment, stemmed solely from his personal statements and opinions. Because the University of Illinois is a publicly funded government institution, we're fundamentally talking about a government agency rejecting a potential employee based solely on his constitutionally protected speech. From a legal standpoint, how is that any different than a government agency rejecting a potential employee based on the color of their skin? Or their gender? Or their age? If Professor Salaita were initially offered the job, and then the job offer was rescinded because he was hispanic, would we see the same division on the left? When it comes to government actions, both race (14th Amendment) and speech (1st Amendment) are protected equally by the Constitution, so the question isn't as far a reach as some might like to pretend. We're not talking about a private company withdrawing a job offer, but about a government-funded institution discriminating against a job applicant based on a federally protected trait.

Besides, if the government can discriminate against someone based on one Constitutionally protected trait, how are we to prevent it from discriminating against people based on others? If the government can pass up employees based on their personal opinions, what other traits are we OK with rejecting applicants over?

If this were a private employer, there would be little question about an employers right to withdraw an offer like this. Private employers, after all, are free to discriminate against any traits they wish, so long as they aren't specifically prohibited from doing so by state or federal law. Government agencies, on the other hand, are legally required to abide by the terms of the Constitution, laws applying to government agencies, AND those same specific employment discrimination prohibitions. It has to abide by a much higher standard.