Feminist theologian Mary Daly recently reached a settlement with Boston College over her strange exit from teaching. For 25 years, Daly had refused to allow men in her classroom, and to their discredit Boston College officials grudgingly accepted this arrangement.
But in 1999, a student threatened to sue Boston College if Daly refused to allow him in her classroom. When college officials informed Daly that her sexist policy was no longer tolerable, Daly said she’d rather retire than allow a man in her classroom.
Boston College took her at her word and announced that Daly had retired. Daly claimed she had never said she was retiring and sued Boston College for breach of contract.
And then things got even weirder. A few weeks before Daly’s case was to go to trial, Daly and her lawyer approached Boston College seeking a settlement. The college agreed, and the two parties entered into a settlement that included a confidentiality clause — neither side was to discuss the terms of the settlement.
Except Daly and her lawyer apparently couldn’t resist getting in a dig at Boston College and put out a press release falsely claiming that Boston College had come to Daly seeking a settlement and proclaiming, “We are confident that, after hearing all of the testimony, the jury would have ruled in our favor and found that Professor Daly’s tenure rights and academic freedom had been trampled.”
Boston College was outraged by the breach of the settlement as well as the false claim that it, rather than Daly, had sought a settlement. The college threatened to sue Daly for violating the terms of the settlement. Daly’s lawyer responded by issuing a retraction of the comments that admitted Daly had sought out the settlement.
Regardless of who did what, hopefully, other colleges and universities will get the message that sex discrimination is simply intolerable at higher learning institutions. Ironically, Daly insists that the principle of academic freedom gives her the right to discriminate based on sex in her classrooms. What a twisted view of academic freedom.
Source:
Suit settled, feminist and BC still arguing. Patricia Healy, Boston Globe, February 8, 2001.