URBANA, Ill. ― The University of Illinois has finalized a $600,000 legal settlement with a professor who lost his job offer over a series of anti-Israel tweets.
The (Champaign) News-Gazette reports that the settlement with Steven Salaita was finalized Dec. 24 after all parties signed it. The newspaper obtained a copy of the settlement through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Officials say motions to dismiss Salaita’s state and federal lawsuits against the university will follow after he receives his payments by early February. The school’s total payment will be $875,000, $600,000 plus $275,000 in attorneys’ fees. The university admitted no wrongdoing.
Salaita was offered a job starting in fall 2014 but the university rescinded the offer over a series of his messages on Twitter objecting to Israeli action against Palestinians.
