A philosophy professor who was banished from campus last year is suing the University of Colorado in federal court, alleging the school both discriminated and retaliated against him because he has a disability.
Dan Kaufman, an associate professor on the Boulder campus, filed the lawsuit against the university in U.S. District Court in Denver on Friday.
Kaufman alleges that by kicking him off campus and taking other actions against him, CU violated his rights under the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities by programs receiving federal funding.
Kaufman also claims that he was denied due process and equal protection under the law, and says he was subjected to outrageous conduct and intentional emotional distress. He’s also suing for defamation.
The university’s top lawyer reiterated on Monday that the campus’s actions against Kaufman were for the “safety of its faculty, students and staff.”
“The complaint provides only some of the facts and omits a number of actions that led the university to believe it was needed to evaluate professor Kaufman’s ability to perform his duties safely before allowing him to return to the classroom,” said Patrick O’Rourke, chief legal officer for the CU system.
“CU’s actions were in the best interests of the safety of its faculty, students and staff, and professor Kaufman’s decision to file a lawsuit because he exercised poor judgment is unfortunate.”
Kaufman declined to comment on his lawsuit. Seth Benezra, his attorney, did not return phone messages or emails.
‘Philosopher’s joke’
Kaufman claims that the university retaliated against him for requesting an accommodation to his disability, which is described in the lawsuit as “major depression with psychotic features.”
In a February 2014 meeting, Kaufman asked philosophy department chairman Andy Cowell for a schedule accommodation so that he could seek treatment for his depression and because being on campus made him anxious, according to the complaint.
The suit alleges that Cowell began questioning Kaufman about his disability, and asked the professor whether he had ever attempted suicide.
Next, Kaufman made a “philosopher’s joke” that would lead to him being banished from the Boulder campus, according to the lawsuit.
“Kaufman assured Cowell that he would not try to kill himself or anyone else, including Cowell, ‘unless he was truly evil (or) had Hitler’s soul,'” Kaufman’s lawyers wrote in the complaint.
Kaufman was informed of the campus exclusion order in early March 2014 after being led by police officers to a meeting with Provost Russ Moore.
CU administrators banished Kaufman from campus “based upon their unlawful stereotyping of Dr. Kaufman as a potentially dangerous person given his disability,” according to the complaint.
His banishment was made even worse, the lawsuit alleges, because of recent scrutiny around CU’s philosophy department for creating a climate that was unfriendly to women.
“Many members of the public and CU employees wrongly believed that Dr. Kaufman was being excluded based upon a false impression that he was involved in a sexual harassment scandal that had just recently been uncovered within the CU philosophy department,” Kaufman’s lawyers wrote.
CU required Kaufman to undergo a mental health assessment by a violence expert who helped investigate the Columbine High School and Virginia Tech shootings, the Daily Camera learned last July.
The evaluation confirmed that he “posed no threat to CU employees or students,” according to the complaint.
Though he was allowed back on campus in May 2014, Kaufman claims that the discrimination and retaliation continued.
The lawsuit alleges that Cowell warned a graduate student that Kaufman had “issues,” and gave Kaufman a set of behavioral expectations that no other faculty member received.
The university also changed Kaufman’s teaching schedule so he would be on campus at least three days a week “even though CU was aware that Kaufman suffers extreme anxiety on campus.”
“This act constitutes further retaliation against Kaufman for complaining about discrimination and for requesting an accommodation,” according to the lawsuit.
O’Rourke, CU’s lawyer, denied that accusation.
“It’s absolutely untrue that CU retaliated against professor Kaufman for requesting a modified teaching schedule,” O’Rourke said.
Depression diagnosis
Kaufman was diagnosed with depression in 2006 and has been hospitalized on multiple occasions for the condition, according to the lawsuit. He’s been treated with a variety of medications and therapies, and his condition limits his ability to sleep, concentrate, interact with others, care for himself, think and communicate, according to the lawsuit.
CU is also accused of defamation for an email sent to philosophy department faculty members announcing Kaufman’s exclusion from campus. The email instructed them to call the police if they saw him on campus.
Kaufman said university spokesman Bronson Hilliard defamed him in a July 2014 story in the Camera by comparing Kaufman’s situation to the Aurora movie theatre and Virginia Tech shootings.
Kaufman is seeking compensation for emotional distress, loss of future employment, reputational harm and other factors.
When he informed CU that he might file suit last summer, Kaufman sought $2 million. The lawsuit does not include a dollar figure.
The lawsuit names Cowell, Moore, Hilliard, Chancellor Phil DiStefano and Steven Leigh, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, as defendants.
This most recent lawsuit comes less than two weeks after CU settled another federal suit. On Feb. 18, the university inked an agreement with “John Doe,” an anonymous male student who sued CU for gender discrimination after being found guilty of sexual assault by the campus judicial process.
Sarah Kuta: 303-473-1106, kutas@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/sarahkuta
