SCRANTON, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A federal lawsuit has been filed by the law firm of Kepner, Kepner and Corba on behalf of Dr. Ben Bishop, a tenured professor with an impeccable academic record, who was fired by the University of Scranton on August 31, 2022.
The alleged reason for Professor Bishop’s termination was that he violated the university’s vaccine policy which required faculty to certify they had received a Covid vaccination. In his lawsuit, Dr. Bishop maintains he was fired due to his public criticism of the university’s Covid policy and administrators. A copy of the lawsuit is available at www.benjbishop.com.
The lawsuit claims that University Provost Jeffery Gingerich falsely characterized Dr. Bishop as “a danger to the health and welfare of the campus” because of his unwillingness to disclose his vaccination status.
The key fact surrounding Dr. Bishop’s firing is that he was fully vaccinated. He strongly objected, as a matter of conscience, to reveal his personal medical information to the university.
In his lawsuit, Dr. Bishop claims that other University employees including Gingerich, openly violated other provisions of the school’s Covid policies. Dr. Bishop states that he was dismissed merely because he opposed the personally invasive policy and did not comply with the disclosure provisions.
Dr. Bishop also objected to what he believed were unethical provisions of the university’s Covid policy including encouraging faculty and students to turn in one another for non-compliance.
Dr. Bishop, who was a tenured professor of Computer Science for nearly 20 years, is suing the University of Scranton, the faculty union and former university provost Jeffery Gingerich.
During the fall 2021 semester, the university instituted a policy requiring all faculty to disclose their vaccination status. Even though he was fully vaccinated, Dr. Bishop believed it was his constitutional and contractual right not to disclose such information. In April 2022 the university brought disciplinary proceedings against Dr. Bishop.
Although he was represented by the university’s bargaining unit, the lawsuit states that the union and the university denied Dr. Bishop his due process rights and the opportunity to appear at his own disciplinary hearing, either in person or by video conference. Dr. Bishop claims that there was no legitimate health and safety reason for the university to exclude him from the hearing, particularly by video conference, other than to silence him.
The lawsuit states that in a clear violation of the contract which the university must follow before terminating tenured full professors, Dr. Bishop was not allowed to present evidence, call witnesses or cross examine witnesses. Dr. Bishop claims that the faculty union did not object to this unfair treatment.
The lawsuit states that Gingerich ran the disciplinary hearing, calling no witnesses and presenting no evidence that Dr. Bishop was guilty of any wrongdoing but instead presented unsworn testimony that Dr. Bishop was in violation of the university Covid policy. However, Dr. Bishop argues that the university Covid policy does not trump the faculty handbook or contract which specifically states that dismissal will not be used to restrain faculty members in their exercise of academic freedom or other rights as American citizens.
In his lawsuit filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Dr. Bishop is asking the court to order the University of Scranton to give him back his job, and provide compensatory damages and counsel fees.