Law Professor Loses Suit Over Exam Question, Accent Use Fallout

Five University of Illinois Chicago School of Law employees defeated federal free speech and due process claims brought by a law professor over their response to an exam question he used “that included an explicit (abbreviated) reference reference to a racial epithet.”

The ruling Wednesday by the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois also dismissed the professor’s federal claims relating to his use of an African American Vernacular English accent when referencing Jay-Z lyrics during class, statements he made during a four-hour Zoom conversation with a member of the school’s Black Law Students Association, and an email ...