Pro-life Professor Loses Lawsuit Against University of Iowa After It Denies Her Job Because She’s Pro-Life

State   |   Sarah Zagorski   |   Jul 9, 2015   |   10:44PM   |   Iowa City, iA

In Iowa, a pro-life activist has lost a lawsuit that accused the University of Iowa Law School of discrimination against her pro-life views. According to the Washington Times, Teresa Manning, formerly known as Teresa Wagner, brought the case against the University and the trial was concluded after six-days.

In 2007, Manning applied for a teaching position and believes she wasn’t offered it because she previously worked for the Family Research Council and National Right to Life. Additionally, Manning claims that she was blacklisted from the position by a law professor who was a clerk for the U.S. Supreme Court and helped write Roe vs. Wade. In fact, an associate dean at the school told Manning that professors hated her politics and activism in the prolife movement. Interestingly, at that time 46 of the 50 faculty members at the school were registered Democrats.

As LifeNews previously reported, in Manning’s official complaint she claimed that their decision violated her first amendment rights and due process and equal protection.  It read, “The First Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees individuals the right to associate and express themselves on matters of public concern without fear of reprisal from their government. This guarantee prohibits the government, when acting as employer, from firing, refusing to promote and/or refusing to hire citizens because of their political views or affiliations. When the government acts as a prospective employer, due process forbids it from changing a job description during the hiring process (or ‘moving the goal posts after the ball has been kicked’).”

The document concluded, “In this case, the law school created a job prerequisite, class rank, and grade point average, after it drafted the job announcement and after it had received applications, including Plaintiff Wagner’s.”

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Although some may argue that Manning was simply not selected for the job because she wasn’t qualified, she believes that’s impossible. The pro-life attorney claims she was told there was only one qualification for that job and that was to have previous law school teaching experience. Not only did Manning have experience teaching at George Mason School of Law, she also wrote briefs for federal appellate courts and the U.S. Supreme Court.

After the verdict was read, Manning said, “I find the verdict incomprehensible given the evidence we presented. I don’t know what else to say.” Of course the Law School denied the allegations and said that she didn’t get the job because in an interview she said she would teach legal writing rather than legal analysis. Their spokesperson, Jeneane Beck, said, “We are pleased with the outcome and happy to put this case behind us.”

In January, Manning is releasing a book titled “Academic Injustices” about her lawsuit through Encounter Books. Thankfully, Manning has found another job at Virginia Tech and will be teaching writing to medical students.

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