Jewish professor gets settlement after being dismissed from school post
A settlement of $140,000 has been obtained for a Jewish professor whose work at the University of Maryland, College Park, was destroyed by school officials just when she had started becoming vocal about her Jewish faith.
It is the American Center for Law and Justice that explained the positive outcome for Melissa Landa, who eventually was dismissed by the school.
“The settlement comes after a long-fought legal battle against the university for discrimination and wrongful termination,” the ACLJ reported.
The case was over the destruction of her career at the school, where she had taught with honors for 10 years.
She got her start there as a graduate assistant in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She was promoted to a full-time faculty position after just two years, in 2007, the report said.
“During her career at UMD, Dr. Landa received several awards, including the College of Education’s Excellence in Teaching Award and the College of Education’s Exceptional Scholarship Award. She also received a letter of commendation for her contributions to the Education Abroad Program from UMD’s Associate Vice President for International Affairs. Dr. Landa was an excellent, competent, and beloved teacher who always got high reviews,” the ACLJ said.
Then in 2015 she started working with a group of Oberlin College alums to address campus antisemitism.
And she became an affiliate professor at the University of Haifa, a representation of solidarity with Israeli scholars who were being shunned by academics in their boycotts of Israel.
And, the report said, she was then involved in the Academic Engagement Network, an organization of American college and university faculty who oppose the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement – an international campaign that denies the Jewish people their right to national self-determination in their ancestral homeland, Israel.”
She then was told not to display at Israeli flag in her office, her job responsibilities were reduced and she was taken off a course she had helped develop.
Her complaints about religious discrimination brought no response, until the ACLJ took the fight into the courts, the report said.
The lawsuit actually followed a determination by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that there was strong evidence she was fired in retaliation.
But the school refused to settle her claims, and a lawsuit was filed.
Eventually, a settlement for damages and costs was reached, of $140,000.
She later obtained employment elsewhere.
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