Salaita lawsuit against University of Illinois will proceed

Steven Salaita's lawsuit against the University of Illinois for rescinding a job offer in response to controversy over the content of his tweets will go forward. On Thursday a federal judge denied the university's motion to dismiss most of the counts in Salaita's complaint. Specifically, the judge refused to dismiss Salaita's contract, promissory estoppel and First Amendment claims against the university. What this means is that the judge concluded that if the facts are as Salaita alleged (and that qualification is important) he has stated valid legal claims. It is not a ruling on the merits. In potentially related news, University of Illinois Chancellor Phyllis Wise resigned on Thursday as well.

For early analysis of the rulings, see these posts by Brian Leiter and William A. Jacobson. Here's early news coverage from the Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Education.

For more background, here are my prior posts on the Salaita controversy:

• Tweeting without tenure
• More on tweeting without tenure
• Steven Salaita's legal claim—a dissenting view
• Did the University of Illinois rescind Steven Salaita's appointment to appease donors?
• University of Illinois trustees vote against Salaita appointment