CSU-Pueblo professor sues university over free speech

A sociology professor at Colorado State University-Pueblo has filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming his First Amendment rights were violated when he protested the university’s decision to cut jobs.

The Denver Post reports Tim McGettigan is suing CSU-Pueblo President Lesley DiMare and the university’s Board of Governors, saying his email and computer access was shut down as he tried to organize protests against a decision to eliminate about 50 teaching and staff positions.

The lawsuit argues the school’s computer access policy violates the constitutional right to free speech.

University spokesman Kyle Henley declined to comment about the lawsuit Wednesday.

The university proposed job cuts last January, and McGettigan said the moves were being made to expand operations in Denver at the expense of Pueblo.