Steven Salaita’s attorney said his client will seek relief in a lawsuit against the University, although one has yet to be filed.

On Sept. 9, during a press conference at the University YMCA, Salaita was joined by a team of lawyers who said they were prepared to pursue legal action if the Board of Trustees did not reinstate Salaita’s position as a tenured professor to the American Indian Studies program. 

Two days later, the Board of Trustees voted 8-1 to reject Salaita’s reinstatement. Now, Salaita, his lawyers and a legal team from the Center for Constitutional Rights are in the process of preparing a case against the University on behalf of Salaita.

“Professor Salaita was hopeful that the University would do the right thing and complete that appointment process voluntarily and amicably,” said Salaita’s legal representative Anand Swaminathan, attorney at Loevy & Loevy based in Chicago. “Having not done so, his only option at this point is to pursue his legal remedies, and that is what he is in the process of doing.”

University Spokeswoman Robin Kaler responded to questions about the lawsuit over email.

“If that (litigation) occurs, we will deal with it appropriately with the help of our attorneys,” Kaler said. “Right now, we are focused on moving our campus forward by engaging with our faculty and the larger Illinois community.”

She also said that representatives for Salaita and the University “continue to be in communication.” 

Swaminathan said there are a number of legal arguments that Salaita and his team may use in their case against the University.  

“Professor Salaita has constitutional claims — claims under the First Amendment, based on free speech and expression, and to claims of due process, especially other constitutional claims,” Swaminathan said.

The claims of free speech are in reference to one of the reasons why Chancellor Phyllis Wise rescinded Salaita’s position at the University: a number of tweets criticizing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. In one of his tweets, Salaita said, “At this point, if (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu appeared on TV with a necklace made from the teeth of Palestinian children, would anyone be surprised?”

However, Swaminathan said he believes the University did not look at Salaita’s full record.

“If they had looked at his tweets from the exact same time period of the tweets that have been blown up, they would have seen quotes from Professor Salaita. Swaminathan refers to a tweet in which Salaita wrote, “I refuse to conceptualize Israel-Palestine as Jewish-Arab acrimony. I am in solidarity with many Jews and in disagreement with many Arabs.”

Salaita could seek injunctive relief in multiple forms, including damages for the loss of income, according to Swaminathan.

Jon Loevy and Gretchen Helfrich of Loevy & Loevy will also be working with Swaminathan alongside Maria LaHood and Baher Azmy from the Center for Constitutional Rights, according to a press release published on the Center for Constitutional Rights’ website. LaHood was present with Swaminathan at his press conference.

“It was great to be on U of I’s campus and see so much support for Prof. Salaita,” LaHood said.

Salaita’s team is working on his case; however, no dates have been given for when the possible lawsuit may be filed.

Andrew can be reached at [email protected].