A former University of Arizona (U of A) professor is suing the school for firing him because he spoke out against the gender and sexuality content his local school district was presenting to students. Daniel Grossenbach, who served as an adjunct professor at the U of A School of Government and Public Policy from 2020 to 2023, filed a federal lawsuit against the university Friday. In it, he alleges that U of A terminated him under false pretenses on the basis of a handful of anonymous complaints, in violation of the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Professor Protests Principal’s Poll
A Christian apologist who taught ethics classes at U of A, Grossenbach founded a parents’ group to challenge the Catalina Foothills School District’s (CFSD) policies after a leaked email from a CFSD principal revealed that the district was keeping students’ gender and pronoun choices a secret from their parents. According to the lawsuit:
The email contained a list of students suffering from gender confusion, who had asked teachers to call them by chosen pronouns inconsistent with their biological and chromosomal reality, but requested that the school conceal this information from the parents.
That, noted the complaint, “was actually one of the least objectionable surveys CFSD provided to its students.” Others “went so far as to ask minor children about their sexual desires and preferences.”
Grossenbach, whose children attend CFSD schools, and other parents repeatedly raised their concerns with school officials and the school board to no avail.
Grossenbach’s presentations to the board consisted of two- to three-minute prepared speeches that “solely focused upon CFSD’s violation of parental rights,” says his complaint. Before each speech, it claims, he provided a “disclaimer that he was speaking on behalf of himself and not speaking on behalf of the University where he [was] employed.”
Progressives Protest Principled Professor
For daring to challenge CFSD’s woke policies, Grossenbach was targeted by the online Left including the Pima County Democratic Party. Their objective: to get U of A to fire him.
They began denouncing him on social media as a purveyor of “hate” who wanted “to force [his] religion on all of us.”
Some took the next step of submitting anonymous complaints to U of A. One called Grossenbach “the leader of an anti-gay hate group” whose alleged threats were considered potential domestic terrorism by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (That, of course, was because the Biden administration, at the behest of the National School Boards Association, chose to redefine “domestic terrorism” to include parents who peacefully objected to school policies at school-board meetings.) Another complainant threatened not to allow his or her child to attend U of A if Grossenbach continued to be employed there. A third alleged that Grossenbach had engaged in “unethical behavior” that violated university policies.
U of A officials took the complaints seriously enough to discuss them among themselves, first via email and then in an informal chat. The lawsuit alleges this was done “to avoid public records laws” that would have mandated the release of the contents of the discussion and any other complaints that were brought up during that discussion. Already, the plan was not to renew Grossenbach’s contract so the “issue” of his constitutionally protected speech would “take care of itself,” as Edella Schlager, director of the School of Government and Public Policy, put it in an October 2023 email.
Pretext Precedes Pink Paper
Unaware of this, Grossenbach emailed School of Government and Public Policy Assistant Director Angela Hackett to discuss an offer he had received from a publisher to author a textbook. In turn, Hackett — whose email signature includes “The University of Arizona is a Hispanic-Serving institution which resides on the traditional territory of the Tohono O’odham and Pascua Yaqui peoples” — sought advice from Schlager. The latter asked her to set up a meeting with Grossenbach.
At that meeting, in November 2023, Schlager informed Grossenbach that his contract would not be renewed because the school planned to hire a full-time professor to teach his courses.
Although Grossenbach accepted this rationale at first, he later became skeptical and initiated a public-records request for documents and emails related to his termination. U of A stonewalled his request for a whopping 239 days, only relenting after he retained legal counsel.
Meanwhile, the university advertised for applicants for two adjunct-professor positions to teach the courses Grossenbach had been teaching. It never hired the full-time professor he was told would be taking over for him.
Peeved-prof Plaintiff’s Plea
Armed with this information, Grossenbach — whose textbook offer had been rescinded after he was let go — decided to take U of A to court, represented by Florida-based Liberty Counsel.
Claiming U of A’s actions violate the First and 14th Amendments, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Arizona’s public-records law, Grossenbach is asking the court to reinstate him to his position with back pay and to declare that university policies that chill freedom of speech and religion are unconstitutional.
Said Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Mat Staver:
Professors at public universities and colleges do not shed their constitutional rights to free speech and religious exercise when they work for a university. Professor Daniel Grossenbach engaged in constitutionally protected speech, religious expression, and religious exercise and was speaking on matters of public concern regarding his faith, morality, and the community. The University of Arizona cannot fire a professor for his protected speech.
