Salaita sues Univ. of Illinois for refusing to release emails related to firing
Steven Salaita is suing the University of Illinois for its refusal to release emails related to administrators’ decision to fire him last summer. ● Salaita had been hired by the university for a tenured position in the American Indian Studies program, but he was fired after an outcry by pro-Israel donors and activists over his tweets critical of Israel’s massacre in Gaza. Attorneys at the Chicago law firm Loevy & Loevy filed suit in the Circuit Court of Champaign County in Illinois on Monday alleging that the university is in violation of the Freedom of Information Act. The lawsuit asks the court to order the university to release thousands of emails and pay unspecified civil damages and legal costs.