ADF attorneys represent Dr. David Phillips in lawsuit
RALEIGH, N.C. – Alliance
Defending Freedom attorneys filed suit in state court Friday on behalf of a
professor whom the North Carolina Governor’s School fired after he spoke out
about the harms of the racially divisive ideology embraced by the school. Dr.
David Phillips is a well-respected English professor who has spent eight
summers teaching at the Governor’s School, a residential summer program for the
state’s most talented rising high-school seniors.
For years, Phillips spoke out against the school’s increasing adoption of
critical theory, an ideology that views everyone and everything through the
lens of characteristics like race, sex, and religion, labeling people as
perpetual oppressors or victims based on group membership alone. After Phillips
delivered three optional seminars in June 2021 critiquing critical theory and
the increasing bias and lack of viewpoint diversity in higher education, North
Carolina public school officials fired him mid-session without any explanation.
“In an academic environment committed to exploring a wide range of differing
viewpoints, as the Governor’s School claims to be, no teacher should be fired
for offering a reasoned critique of critical theory. But that’s what happened
to Dr. Phillips,” said ADF Senior Counsel Hal Frampton. “There is no lawful
explanation for the way North Carolina public school officials treated Dr.
Phillips. He was beloved, respected, and regarded by both students and faculty
as an advocate for students who felt that their voices weren’t being heard and
their perspectives weren’t welcomed at the Governor’s School. By firing him,
the Governor’s School violated his constitutional right to free speech and
unlawfully retaliated against him for deviating from the Governor’s School’s ideological
orthodoxy.”
Over his eight years teaching at the Governor’s School, Phillips has encouraged
his students to think for themselves and has notified the administration of the
hostility that he and other students with “privileged” characteristics experienced.
Phillips’ three optional seminars, which were similar to others he’d delivered
in previous years and open to any student or staff member to attend if they so
desired, discussed (1) a social psychology critique of some concepts from
critical theory; (2) understanding speech through the lens of speech-act
theory; and (3) the increasing ideological bias and lack of viewpoint diversity
in higher education.
Following these lectures, a group of students and staff members reacted with
open hostility, referencing race, gender, sexual orientation, and religion in
their comments and questions. Despite the hostility, Phillips stayed long after
the conclusion of each lecture to answer questions, even offering to meet with
students later for further discussion. The day after Phillips’ third optional
seminar, the Governor’s School fired him without warning or explanation. When
he asked why, he was told no explanation would be given, and that there was no
appeal or other recourse. Phillips had always received glowing performance
reviews without a single negative comment up until the point of the lectures.
ADF attorneys filed the lawsuit, Phillips v. North Carolina Department
of Public Instruction, in the Superior Court for Wake County, North
Carolina.
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