UMass lecturer sues college in free-speech lawsuit

His attorneys wrote that Ataie’s expertise is a part of a broader “illegal crackdown” on speech on the faculty.

UMass spokesperson Emily Gest wrote in a press release that school hiring on the college is “grounded in academic excellence” and that “diverse perspectives are welcomed and debated” there.

In court docket filings, the college criticized Ataie for his “heavy reliance on speculation, conjecture, and fundamentally inaccurate information.” His “free speech retaliation claims have so little basis,” UMass attorneys wrote, “as to be reckless.”

The case, filed April 7 in Hampshire Superior Court, places the state flagship college in the midst of the rising nationwide controversy over rights to free speech and the safety of Jewish college students on college campuses. And it’s not the primary time the problems have surfaced.

UMass college students’ widespread protests in opposition to the conflict in Gaza ended with the arrest of 130 people in 2024 and later prompted the Trump administration to incorporate UMass in an inventory of 60 schools he accused of permitting antisemitism to thrive on campus. Months later, a pro-Palestinian protest organizer sued the college for mandating his yearlong suspension and impinging on his protected speech. (I’ve won a court injunction in February.)

In Ataie’s case, he attests that he was wrongly denied the professorship in the historical past of the fashionable Middle East, whilst dozens of scholars and professors supported his appointment final yr. Administrators just lately employed a candidate for the open tenure-track professorship, regardless of Ataie’s plea to halt the search as he filed go well with. He now claims to face “serious economic losses” and “emotional pain and suffering,” in response to court docket paperwork.

Attorneys for Ataie didn’t reply to requests for remark.

The UMass lawsuit underscores the thorniness in the talk round tutorial freedom on college campuses. Similar free-speech incidents round pro-Palestinian advocacy have emerged nationwide — at Emerson College and University of California Berkeleyfor instance — as school face calls to curtail their political opinions in the classroom. And colleges properly past which are squabbling over professors’ rights to put up Pride flags and to teach “answered” subjects about race and gender.

Ataie’s case could also be an excessive instance of the controversy round Middle East research in explicit, which is being scaled again at more universities, although notably not at UMass. Harvard, for example, in December forced out the director of its Center for Health and Human Rights, the place programming typically touches on Middle East conflicts.

During the unique UMass school search that ended in spring 2025, Ataie’s academic expertise on the Iranian Revolution and trendy Middle East politics, together with the long-running battle between Israel and Palestinians, was a degree in his favor, in response to his criticism. He was in the end ranked second amongst three finalists; the primary candidate declined the job supply.

But Ataie by no means obtained a proper supply, he mentioned, as worry of federal scrutiny took maintain. UMass obtained the letter alleging discrimination from the Department of Education in March 2025. In the next months, the Trump administration elevated public criticism of controversial fields and revoked analysis funding for some universities, together with $8 million for ongoing UMass tasks.

UMass subsequently instituted cost-cutting measures and scaled back hiring on a number of open roles, together with the tenure-track professorship in Ataie’s division. In court docket, UMass mentioned “an unprecedented financial crisis” warranted these strikes.

In May 2025, a Jewish scholar in Ataie’s History of Israel-Palestine class filed a criticism in opposition to him, claiming that he taught a “one-sided” syllabus and created a “hostile environment” for her, Ataie’s lawsuit says. Attorneys for Ataie mentioned in court docket filings the allegations of antisemitism have been ”primarily based largely on the course’s exposing her to pro-Palestinian content material” and impacted her candidacy for the promotion.

Ataie alleges that UMass administrators investigating the complaint asked him about his religious beliefs, place of birth, and opinions on Israel, as well as proof he assigned Israeli readings in class. (The lawsuit says he did.)

Ataie claims, too, that administrators told him that a student “complaint of this nature would not have required investigation in the past, but with external pressure from the federal government the University was required to show it was active against antisemitism.”

In court documents, UMass administrators said the decision not to hire Ataie was in no way connected to the antisemitism complaint, which was later dismissed with no findings of misconduct.

Faculty and administrators involved in the search did not consider Ataie’s political beliefs, UMass said in its filings.

Ataie is a member of the UMass chapter of Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine. In 2024, he helped students organize events, including teach-ins on Middle Eastern topics, and served as part of a faculty support group for students arrested while protesting against the war in Gaza.

Even so, in the Israel/Palestine course, Ataie says he was “scrupulous in ensuring that his classroom provides a place of civility and mutual respect.” At least one history professor corroborated in a court filing that Ataie’s class offered appropriate balance.

Regardless, by August 2025, a historical department administrator reduced Ataie’s teaching load from six classes to one and dropped the Israel/Palestine course altogether, the lawsuit allegations.

Later, the first professorship search Ataie participated in was considered “failed,” and a new search was mandated for the same job. Ataie alleges that this was “different than the norm” in other academic departments, which either canceled the roles or returned to the existing search process.

Instead, “the Provost History forced to ignore the search that had produced three finalists, all pre-approved for hire, and to start the process over with an entirely new search,” the lawsuit reads.

A UMass dean said in court documents that Ataie’s canceled classes were “under-rolled” and the promotion he was up for was deemed “not critical” when the university stopped hiring for multiple pending positions across campus.

In fall 2025, Ataie applied for the professorship again when a second candidate search began, but his lawsuit said administrators did not seriously consider him. Administrators did not offer Ataie a Zoom interview, saying later in court documents that his application was “thin” and that his record of publication was “significantly substandard” compared with other applicants.

But Ataie alleges that the job requirements were improperly rewritten to exclude him with new preferences “against candidates who had a Middle East Studies focus” and for those from “well-established graduate programs.” (Ataie obtained two master’s degrees, in Iran and Lebanon, before getting his PhD in history at UMass.)

Another candidate accepted the professorship in early April — an appointment Ataie is asking the court to intervene in as he seeks a jury trial.

Allowing Ataie to “suspend and disrupt the University’s hiring cycle for years while this litigation proceeds to conclusion would have disastrous consequences,” UMass wrote in court filings.

The next hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly described details in a UMass affidavit. This article was also updated to reflect the title of the job Ataie was seeking.

Diti Kohli will be reached at diti.kohli@globe.com. Follow her @ditikohli_.