Former UNC professor suing university after his classes were recorded without notice
A former UNC-Chapel Hill business professor is suing the university for retaliation after his contract was not renewed this summer, a move that followed administrators recording the professor’s classes without notice to him.
Larry Chavis, who worked as a clinical professor in the Kenan-Flagler Business School for 18 years, filed the federal lawsuit Thursday.
In the complaint, he alleges the university used “unlawful and unconstitutional employment practices” against him in violation of the First Amendment. He also alleges the university ended his employment in retaliation “for his public criticisms” of the university after he learned that business school administrators had recorded several of his lectures this spring and for his comments “regarding discriminatory practices at the business school.”
“The timing of Chavis’ firing creates a clear inference that the exercise of his First Amendment speech rights and his denunciation of discriminatory conduct caused UNC to end Chavis’ 18-year career at the business school,” the lawsuit states.
Chavis, a contract-based employee who was not on the tenure track, received a letter on April 22 from Christian Lundblad, senior associate dean for faculty and research at the business school, informing him that the school had received reports of concern regarding Chavis’ “class content and conduct.” In the same letter, which Chavis posted publicly to his LinkedIn account, Lundblad informed Chavis that administrators had “recorded and reviewed several” of his class sessions earlier in April.
“For the first time in my career, I’m pretty shaken,” Chavis’ LinkedIn post read. He added: “I pray I’ll still have a job at the end of this process.”
The revelation of his classes being recorded generated conversation and concern around the university, as well as media coverage, throughout the spring. Chavis continued to post and speak publicly about the situation throughout much of that time.
Lundblad told Chavis at some point in the spring that his contract would be renewed for multiple years, the lawsuit states. But on June 10, the lawsuit states, Chavis received a letter from Kenan-Flagler Dean Mary Margaret Frank saying his contract — set to expire on June 30 — would not be renewed.
“No reason was ever given,” according to a press release from Wukela Communications, which announced the lawsuit Monday.
UNC spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request from The News & Observer Monday morning.
History of speaking out
This spring wasn’t Chavis’ first time speaking out against the university or the business school.
Chavis, who is a member of the Lumbee tribe of North Carolina, previously described what he believed to be the university’s and Kenan-Flagler’s “challenges with diversity and inclusion” in news stories and opinion pieces dating back at least to 2022, about two years before his classes were recorded. Chavis also spoke out internally, to other faculty and leadership, at the business school about such issues, including pay disparities for himself and other faculty of color.
Chavis, who in 2022 was promoted from associate to full clinical professor, contends that he was passed over for leadership positions in the college because he had been outspoken about his opinions on such issues.
“The University of North Carolina system has done much to silence Larry Chavis. He has been denied promotions he earned, he is paid less than rookie professors fresh off a PH.D, and his classes were secretly recorded,” attorney Artur Davis said in the press release. “When the suppression didn’t work, they finally fired him.”
The lawsuit also argues that recording Chavis’ classes could be a violation of North Carolina law, which requires one party within a conversation to consent to being recorded. The university did not have a formal policy on recording classes prior to the incident involving Chavis’ classes, but the university’s provost has since committed to developing a policy on recording classes in the wake of the incident.
Chavis is requesting a jury trial, as well as relief for economic damages such as lost wages and attorney’s fees.
Chavis posted a copy of the lawsuit to LinkedIn Monday, writing: “Sometimes, in order to move forward, individually and collectively, we have to look backward.”
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