The David Barnett Affair
The
documents posted here fall into two groups. First, there are two documents concerning the deliberations of the
Privilege and Tenure Committee on whether David Barnett was guilty of
retaliation, where it was the unanimous finding of that committee that
he was not guilty of retaliation. The Final Report of that committee is, unfortunately,
not a public document; however the University did release a redacted copy
of the preliminary report, and I have posted that document, along with my critical
comments on it – comments that show that the deliberations
of that committee were deeply flawed.
Second, there are newspaper
articles published in the local Boulder newspaper, the Daily Camera,
written by Sarah Kuta, four of them concerning the Administration's
attempt to fire Professor David Barnett on the grounds that he was
guilty of retaliation, and the final article describing the outcome of
that attempt, namely, that although David Barnett was found not
to be guilty of retaliation, and was not fired, the Administration
nonetheless still threatened to fire him, and ultimately succeeded in
ending his appointment in the Philosophy Department by offering him a
settlement offer in exchange for his resigning his position and
agreeing not to file a lawsuit against the University.
(The University has its own lawyers, along with immense financial
resources, and filing a lawsuit against the University would have been
extremely expensive, so it is not surprising that Professor Barnett
chose not to pursue that course of action.)
Very important additional facts relevant to the David Barnett Affair
have emerged over the past year, and I am hopeful that I shall be able
to set out those facts in the relatively near future, since they throw
great light on both the behavior of the Office of Discrimination and
Harassment, and the Administration – including Chancellor Philip
DiStefano and President Bruce Benson – and also on the enormous
injustice involved throughout the process that led to the departure of
Professor Barnett from the Philosophy Department – a matter on which
members of the Philosophy Department at the University of Colorado at
Boulder have, mainly, I believe, out of fear of retaliation, remained more or less
completely silent.
The Privilege and Tenure Committee Hearing
1. "The Preliminary Report of the Privilege and Tenure Committee hearing on the Charge of Retaliation againt David Barnett"
2. "A Most Peculiar Document: The Preliminary Privilege and Tenure Committee Report on the Charge Aganst David Barnett" – Michael Tooley
Daily Camera Articles on the Attempt to Fire David Barnett
1. "CU-Boulder moves to fire professor accused of retaliating against sexual assault victim" – Sarah Kuta, Boulder Daily Camera
2. "Students defend CU-Boulder philosophy professor under fire as 'excellent teacher'" – Sarah Kuta, Boulder Daily Camera
3. "David Barnett, professor at center of termination battle, seeks $2M from CU-Boulder" – Sarah Kuta, Boulder Daily Camera
4. "CU-Boulder prof Alison Jaggar had concerns about retaliation more than a year ago" – Sarah Kuta, Boulder Daily Camera
5. "CU-Boulder drops bid to fire David Barnett with $290K settlement deal” – Sarah Kuta, Boulder Daily Camera