University of Washington and California Community College Pay Six-Figure Settlements Over Faculty Free-Speech Disputes

After a protracted four-year case, the University of Washington agreed to a $600,000 settlement with computer-science instructor Stuart Reges, who was penalized for inserting a satirical land acknowledgment that referenced the labor theory of property. The deal prohibits the university from further investigations, withholding merit raises, or creating alternate sections of his courses, and it permits Reges to publish the parody indefinitely.

The settlement follows a 9th Circuit decision that found UW’s actions retaliatory and viewpoint-discriminatory. Separately, Kern Community College District in California settled a dispute with historian Daymon Johnson by paying $150,000 in attorney fees after he criticized the district’s diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility policies; the agreement bars the district from disciplining him for his proposed social or political speech, except when speaking in his official advisory-committee capacity. Both settlements reflect a growing judicial pushback against mandated DEI orthodoxy in public academia, with courts imposing permanent injunctions to protect faculty First Amendment rights.