Following a ruling Friday that the University violated former employee Dena Bowers' right to due process, Bowers' case against the University will continue in front of a jury in the Charlottesville Federal Court next Tuesday.
Judge Norman K. Moon, who presided over Friday's hearing, decided to dismiss Bowers' claim that the University violated her First Amendment rights when she was fired from her position in November 2005, according to Bowers' attorney, Debbie Wyatt.
Despite the dismissal, Wyatt said she "believe[s] the First Amendment claim is still very important."
University General Counsel Richard Kast explained that most of Bowers' claims have been dismissed since the beginning of the case with the exception of this one "narrow" claim that she was not given an opportunity to defend herself before she was fired from her position as an employee in University Human Relations.
In addition to dismissing these claims, Kast said three of the five defendants have been dismissed as well.
Bowers was dismissed from her position at the University after sending an e-mail to a co-worker through her University account that included her official electronic signature and an attachment.
The e-mail went on to be mistakenly forwarded to the entire College faculty because a recipient thought it was an official University Human Resources announcement.
In a November 2005 interview, University spokesperson Carol Wood said Bowers was dismissed for the misrepresentation of the message and the source of the message, as well as a lack of cooperation by Bowers in clarifying that the e-mail was not from her in her official capacity as a University employee.
Wood did not currently comment on the incident due to the ongoing trial.
Wyatt said she and her client will continue to seek the full $1 million compensation from the University that they originally requested.
Wyatt added that Bowers plans to appeal Moon's claim that her dismissal did not violate her First Amendment rights as well as the dismissals of other claims.
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