Today, America First Legal (AFL), in partnership with Ashbrook, Byrne, Kresge & Flowers, announced a decisive legal victory for its client, Dr. Scott Gerber, securing a settlement with Ohio Northern University (ONU) that includes his full reinstatement and complete vindication.
In 2023, ONU terminated Dr. Gerber, a tenured law professor, after he objected to the University’s race-based hiring practices. When he was terminated, ONU sent campus security and armed local police officers into his classroom to forcibly remove him.
Now, after nearly two years of litigation, ONU has agreed to reinstate Dr. Gerber and allow him to retire at his rightful faculty rank, with all his benefits intact. As part of the settlement, ONU formally acknowledged that:
- Dr. Gerber was never a public safety risk to any member of the ONU community.
- He never acted with moral turpitude.
- He provided “outstanding teaching, scholarship, and service” throughout his tenure at ONU.
“Dr. Gerber should be commended for his courage in filing complaints about what he perceived as ONU’s consideration of race and sex in hiring professors, which is illegal. This has cost him years of lost teaching opportunity, reputational harm, and the stress of years of litigation. However, his reward is full vindication. He was never a safety threat. He was nothing but an outstanding professor and scholar who stood on truth,” said Nick Barry, Senior Counsel at America First Legal.
Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:
- Wall Street Journal Op-Ed (Scott Gerber), DEI Brings Kafka To My Law School (May 10, 2023)
- Law.com, Tenured Law Professor Pulled From His Classroom Faces Termination. He Wants To Know Why? (May 25, 2023)
- Law.com, Law School Seeks To Terminate Tenured Professor Accused of Bullying (Aug. 2, 2023)
- Law.com, A Deep Dive Into The Attempt To Fire Tenured Law Professor (Aug. 16, 2023)
- Daily Mail, Terminated Tenured Law Professor Sues University, Claims He Was Fired For Opposing DEI (Jan. 27, 2024)
- FIRE, With Jury Trial Pending In Termination Of Tenured Law Prof, University Sues Over His WSJ Op-Ed And Lawyer’s Press Release (Feb. 19, 2025)
- Lima News, Ohio Northern Settles With Terminated Tenured Law Professor (Mar. 26, 2025)
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