| Subject: Re: Send an email, lose your job |
| From: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> |
| Date: 7/6/10, 20:05 |
| To: Robert Luhn <luhn@ncse.com> |
You may recall that Christine Comer--who was the Director of Science at the Texas Education Agency--was fired in 2007 for forwarding an email which announced a public lecture by NCSE Board member Barbara Forrest. (Forrest was an expert witness in the Kitzmiller v Dover trial and author of a book on the intelligent design movement.) TEA employee Monica Martinez called for Comer's termination, complaining that "Ms. Comer's email implies endorsement of the speaker and implies that TEA endorses the speaker's position on a subject on which the agency must remain neutral."
Comer sued, claiming she was illegally fired. But on Friday, July 2, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reinstate her latest suit.
Our story: http://ncse.com/news/2010/07/comer-loses-appeal-005612
Steven Schafersman, Texas Citizens for Science, on the suit: http://www.texscience.org/news/comer/comer-lawsuit-dismissed-2009April1.htm
Court filing: http://ncse.com/webfm_send/1390
Video: "Chris Comer, Expelled for Real"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpCdQ2Tbf6s
background:
"Science Supervisor Chris Comer Sues Texas Education Agency" (2008)
http://ncse.com/news/2008/06/science-supervisor-chris-comer-sues-texas-education-agency-00169
Comer case dismissed (2009)
http://ncse.com/news/2009/04/comer-case-dismissed-004712
Comer appeal heard (2010)
http://ncse.com/news/2010/04/comer-appeal-heard-005475
...also of note: Exclusive chapter excerpt from "Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution". Download it at: http://ncse.com/files/pub/evolution/Excerpt--LifeAscendingb.pdf
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-- Robert Luhn Director of Communications National Center for Science Education, Inc. 420 40th Street, Suite 2 Oakland, CA 94609-2509 510-601-7203 x314 fax: 510-601-7204 800-290-6006 luhn@ncse.com http://www.ncse.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd Twitter: http://twitter.com/ncse