University of Washington pays $600,000 to settle lawsuit with professor over land acknowledgment parody

The short version

• The University of Washington agreed to pay computer science teaching professor Stuart Reges $600,000 to resolve a First Amendment lawsuit.
• Reges faced an investigation and administrative sanctions after adding a modified land acknowledgment statement to his course syllabus in 2022.
• The settlement follows a Ninth Circuit ruling in Reges's favor, though the university maintained it committed no wrongdoing and settled to avoid further legal costs.
• Reges retains his faculty position and teaching duties under the agreement, with the university barred from pursuing further action over the incident.

Key facts

• The University of Washington agreed to pay $600,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by non-tenured computer science and engineering teaching professor Stuart Reges.[Fox News]
• In January 2022, Reges included a parody of the university's suggested land acknowledgment in his Computer Programming II syllabus using John Locke's labor theory of property.[Fox News]
• University officials responded by removing the statement from his syllabus, creating an alternative course section for students, and launching an investigation under the university's anti-harassment policy.[Fox News]
• The legal action concluded with a settlement following a 2-1 decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that overturned a lower court ruling in favor of the university.[Fox News]
• The University of Washington stated that the settlement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing and was reached to avoid potential legal fees and costs.[Fox News]
• Reges remains employed at the university in his teaching role, and the terms of the settlement prevent the institution from taking further disciplinary action against him regarding the syllabus statement.[Fox News]

Sources

Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.

• University pays professor $600K after being punished for parodying land acknowledgmentsFox News