A former ethics professor at a taxpayer funded community college in Minnesota is suing Governor Tim Walz after he was fired for refusing to comply with the state’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate for government employees and expressing his opinions on the matter to his students.
Professor Russell Stewart filed a complaint in federal court Wednesday against Walz and the leadership at Lake Superior College over his March 2022 termination for non-compliance with the Covid-19 vaccine mandate and a September 2021 email he sent to students explaining his position, National Review has learned.
The lawsuit argues Stewart’s rights under the First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment were violated by the Covid-19 mandate and punishment for speaking out against it at a publicly funded institution. Steward was an ethics professor for three decades and held a position equivalent to tenured faculty for 27 years. He is asking for reinstatement to his prior position and for the court to declare his Constitutional rights were violated.
“By forcing Professor Stewart to submit to vaccination or frequent testing, Policy #1446 violated his right to refuse medical treatment, encompassed by the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process clause. And by conditioning his continued employment upon his submission to this policy, Defendants created an unconstitutional condition,” the complaint reads.
“Similarly, by treating Professor Stewart (once he acquired immunity post-infection) differently from his vaccinated peers, Defendants violated his right to Equal Protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. Finally, by punishing him for speaking to his students on a matter of public concern, when such speech was not in violation of any LSC policy, Defendants violated his First Amendment rights.”
Stewart is being represented by the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a conservative legal group devoted to fighting government overreach. The non-partisan group is known for fighting the federal bureaucracy and recently filed a legal challenge to some of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on China.
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Author: Dillon B
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