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The Kern Community College District will pay former Bakersfield College professor Matthew Garrett $2.4 million under a recent settlement agreement.
Garrett, previously a tenured history professor, sued district administrators in 2021, alleging they retaliated against him for accusing colleagues of using grant money for partisan social justice work.
The district Board of Trustees voted to fire him last year after interim president Zav Dadabhoy submitted a 19-page report of charges against Garrett, including unprofessional conduct. Garrett, a founder of the conservative-leaning faculty group Renegade Institute for Liberty, pushed back, saying he was being penalized for espousing his views, including questioning diversity, equity and inclusion work on campus.
In the settlement, Garrett agreed to resign from the college, but he’ll receive an additional $154,520 for back wages and medical benefits since his dismissal. The district will also withdraw and seal all of its 2023 charges against Garrett, as well as any earlier documents that imply misconduct. The settlement says the agreement isn’t “an admission of any wrongdoing or liability by either the District or Garrett.”
The Kern Community College District confirmed it “settled all issues with Matthew Garrett” in a statement to Inside Higher Ed.
"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. Kern Community College District unequivocally supports the right for our students and faculty to share their views and opinions on campus and elsewhere," a spokesperson said.
"As this is a confidential personnel matter, we will not comment further.”
Garrett told The College Fix that the district had no choice but to settle.
“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 in an email. “To my colleagues at Bakersfield College and nationwide, I say: Keep the faith; we are winning the battle, one case at a time.”
