Dive Brief:
- Steven Salaita, who had an offer of a tenured position rescinded by the University of Illinois because of anti-Israel tweets, is suing the university for alleged violations of state open records law.
- Simply put, Salaita accuses the school of refusing to produce documents requested by his attorneys.
- The university said the attorneys’ original request was “unduly burdensome” — one of the criteria that would give the school an exemption from the open records law — because it could mean producing thousands of records, the Chicago Tribune's Redeye reports.
Dive Insight:
Salaita’s attorneys were asking for nine categories of documents, including any emails from 38 university officials that contained at least one of 26 keywords. The university responded with the “unduly burdensome” argument, so the request was narrowed to 15 university officials’ emails with 14 keywords over a three-month period, then to an even more-specific request. But the university hasn’t responded in writing since the original request, and has orally said that the request was still too broad and would require a review of thousands of emails.
The keywords sought included: “Palestine," "Jewish," and "Uncivil.” The university rescinded its job offer to Salaita in September after he wrote hundreds of anti-Israel tweets over the Middle East conflict this summer, including some with profanities. Faculty around the country expressed support for Salaita, saying he was unfairly punished for expressing his views.