Former professor who criticized DEI policies at California college receives $2.4 million settlement

A former tenured professor in California has reached a whopping $2.4 million settlement with his former employer after he was allegedly disciplined for criticizing DEI policies at the community college where he once worked, the College Fix reported.

In 2021, Matthew Garrett filed a lawsuit against the Kern Community College District after he was allegedly disciplined for voicing conservative views and questioning DEI policies at Bakersfield College, where Garrett taught history.

Among other things, Garrett openly criticized Bakersfield's numerous alleged faculty trainings related to implicit bias and microaggressions; "racial quotas and preferences, affirmative action-type behavior ... [and] racially segregated classes"; and mandates related to COVID-19, as Blaze News previously reported.

'Facing an imminent ruling in my favor and the prospect of paying millions of dollars in damages, KCCD had only one viable option: settlement.'

Garrett also began exploring whether any Bakersfield faculty were illicitly diverting grant money to social justice projects.

Between his outspoken views and his involvement in the Renegade Institute for Liberty, a group of Bakersfield faculty members who value "free speech" and the "Western tradition," Garrett said he became a target of Bakersfield colleagues and administrators, who accused him of engaging in racism and hate speech.

Now, more than four years later, Garrett and Kern Community College District have reached a settlement. The district will pay Garrett $2.4 million over the course of 20 years plus a one-time payment of $154,520 less taxes for lost wages. In exchange, Garrett resigned his tenured position effective April 2023.

As part of the settlement, neither party admitted wrongdoing.

"To be clear, the dispute with Matthew Garrett was a disciplinary matter due to his disruptive actions on campus, none of which concerned freedom of speech," the district said in a statement about the settlement. "Kern Community College District unequivocally supports the right for our students and faculty to share their views and opinions on campus and elsewhere. As a District, we create an environment that provides our diverse students and communities with the opportunity to professionally engage with new ideas."

"KCCD believes the settlement is in the best interest of the District and allows us to focus on the future and continue to deliver quality higher education for students of Kern County without any further legal distractions."

Garrett, by contrast, hailed the settlement as a victory for free speech and academic freedom.

"Facing an imminent ruling in my favor and the prospect of paying millions of dollars in damages, KCCD had only one viable option: settlement," Garrett said. "To my colleagues at Bakersfield College and nationwide, I say: Keep the faith; we are winning the battle, one case at a time."

As Blaze News previously reported, Garrett is hardly the only former or current Bakersfield faculty member who accused administrators of persecuting conservatives. Professor Erin Miller, who still works at the school, joined Garrett in a federal lawsuit to allege that the district had violated their First Amendment rights.

Garrett has since left the lawsuit, telling the College Fix that Miller "will continue on alone, and has ample grounds for litigation." He also told the outlet that she "continues to suffer retaliation by the administration," including having some of her classes canceled.

In June 2023, Daymon Johnson, a current Bakersfield history professor and member of the Renegade Institute for Liberty, filed a lawsuit against KCCD, alleging that he routinely "refrains from expressing himself on political matters for fear of being subjected to further investigations and termination."

Johnson's lawsuit also seeks "to block enforcement of unconstitutional, repressive rules and practices that prevent Bakersfield College ... faculty from exercising basic rights to free speech and academic freedom."

That litigation appears to be ongoing.

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