University of Louisville has agreed to pay almost $1.6 million in damages and attorneys’ fees to settle a six-year-old lawsuit filed by its former chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology.
Dr. Allan Josephson was essentially terminated after he criticized transgender ideology, and filed a lawsuit in April 2019 to fight the decision.
“He risked his livelihood and reputation to speak the truth boldly, and the university punished him for expressing his opinion—ultimately by dismissing him. But public universities have no business punishing professors simply because they hold different views,” said Travis Barham, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the doctor.
“…Hopefully, other public universities will learn from this that if they violate the First Amendment, they can be held accountable, and it can be very expensive,” he said in a statement announcing the settlement Monday.
The alliance has filed a motion to dismiss the case because of the agreement.
University spokesman John Karman told Kentucky Today, “As this settlement is related to a personnel matter, the university is not able to provide additional comment.”
Josephson, a psychiatrist, said in a statement Monday that “I’m glad to finally receive vindication for voicing what I know is true.”
“Children deserve better than life-altering procedures that mutilate their bodies and destroy their ability to lead fulfilling lives,” he said.
“In spite of the circumstances I suffered through with my university, I’m overwhelmed to see that my case helped lead the way for other medical practitioners to see the universal truth that altering biological sex is impossibly dangerous while acceptance of one’s sex leads to flourishing.”
As The College Fix previously reported, Josephson was hired by the University of Louisville in 2003 to lead its “struggling” Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology. Over the next 15 years he worked to turn the division around, and built a program with a national reputation.
But, according to his lawsuit, some of his peers were upset that he openly dissented from the transgender orthodoxy that says gender dysphoria should be embraced, encouraged, accepted and treated as a normal and healthy by the medical community.
The lawsuit alleged the trouble began once his peers learned of his views, and in particular colleagues running the campus LGBT center. The doctor’s concerned peers co-opted at least one member of his department to agree his views are problematic, and eventually helped get him demoted, then terminated, the lawsuit claimed.
The university has previously argued during a hearing it could fire Josephson for his comments because they related to his official duties as a professor.
The settlement comes seven months after the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Josephson’s case could proceed.
MORE: Professor continues legal battle after losing job for trans ideology rebuke
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Pictured is Dr. Allan Josephson / Courtesy of Alliance Defending Freedom
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