EXCLUSIVE: Weinstein files $3.8M claim against Evergreen State
Bret Weinstein, the Evergreen State College professor who was driven from campus by a mob of students earlier this year, is preparing to file a $3.8 million claim against the public institution.
According to documents obtained by Campus Reform, Weinstein and his wife, Heather Heying, have filed a standard Tort Claim form against Evergreen State for a sum of $3,850,000.
The legal document was signed by the couple’s attorney and received by Washington’s Department of Enterprise Services Office of Risk Management on July 5.
The official claim follows a litigation hold request sent out in early June, asking the school’s employees to retain and preserve all evidence that relates to the 2017 “Day of Absence;” the student-led protests on campus that took place during the last school year; and any records that relate to Weinstein, his wife, activist professor Naima Lowe, and administrator Rashida Love.
[RELATED: Evergreen prof publicly berated peers on ‘Equity Council’]
“Please be on notice that this demand covers not only those records covered by any public records acts but those which are or were communicated by private means of any type including but not limited to email and photography. This demand should be immediately distributed campus-wide to all faculty and staff,” Weinstein and Heying wrote on June 4.
“Take note that the destruction or alteration of evidence is a felony,” the document added. “This demand is made in contemplation of litigation. Please promptly acknowledge receipt of this communication and confirm that you will comply.”
In an email to Campus Reform, Weinstein’s attorney underscored that the $3.8 million is a total claimed on behalf of both professors collectively “for the hostile work environment that has been fostered at the college over the past year or so.”
He also noted that there is “no current litigation” at this point, since a tort claim must be filed “at least 60 days prior to initiating legal action” in the state of Washington.
[RELATED: Student may sue Evergreen State over off-campus gun ban]
Campus Reform also obtained hundreds of pages of documents, including emails and social media posts, that relate to the requested litigation hold in June and the tort claim in July.
Email exchanges reviewed by Campus Reform feature harsh criticisms of Weinstein’s political views and calls for his termination, including one email sent by a faculty emerita that blasts Weinstein’s appearance on Fox News and his public comments about the racial tensions in Evergreen.
“Bret, I don't know what you were thinking. By describing yourself to Tucker [Carlson] as a ‘deeply progressive person’ you provided him ammunition for the claim that ‘the crazies are even going after progressives!!!,’” part of the email reads.
“I hope that you won't deepen your relation with Fox or pass on more raw material for Tucker's ‘campus craziness’ show,” the missive continues. “I have no doubt that you and your family are suffering due to recent missives and events; but so are many others on campus.”
Other communications include “A Letter to the campus and Bret Weinstein from some Jews bent on the destruction of White Supremacy,” that calls for the termination of Weinstein’s employment.
“We want to talk about the ways that Weinstein is positioning himself as a Jew to invalidate the claims of racism being raised against him,” the letter begins.
“Bret Weinstein is wrong, he has put you in danger, and we will not allow him to hide behind our histories in order to dodge responsibility for his abhorrent and reprehensible words and actions,” it concludes. “NO COPS ON CAMPUS!!! FIRE BRET WEINSTEIN!!! BLACK LIVES MATTER!!!”
The factual narrative submitted alongside the tort claim argues that Evergreen State “has permitted, cultivated, and perpetuated a racially hostile and retaliatory work environment,” asserting that “Through a series of decisions made at the highest levels, including to officially support a day of racial segregation, the College has refused to protect its employees from repeated provocative and corrosive verbal and written hostility based on race, as well as threats of physical violence.”
[RELATED: Students accuse Weinstein of hiding behind Jewishness]
Weinstein’s attorney also maintains that the college has “failed to set and enforce necessary boundaries in the workplace on campus, selectively has chosen not to enforce its student Code of Conduct, and sent the unmistakable message that the school will tolerate (and even endorse) egregious violations (and even crimes) purportedly to advance racial social goals, diminishing the collegiate experience for all, and fostering a racially hostile work and retaliatory environment for faculty and staff.”
Additionally, the factual narrative of the case blasts the college for its policy on the “Day of Absence,” an event that asked for white students faculty and staff to leave campus for a day of diversity programming.
“On its official website, the College asserted that it had never asked whites to leave campus on the Day of Absence—a demonstrably false statement. It also asserts that ‘demonstrations were nonviolent and took place...in isolated areas of the college,’ which is also false,” the attorney states.
“In doing so, TESC [The Evergreen State College] continued to support its racially discriminatory conduct, publicly rejecting Professor Weinstein’s complaints of racial segregation for which he has been repeatedly excoriated, threatened, attacked, and wrongly accused of being a racist in the workplace, for months,” the narrative concludes.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @nikvofficial
