Former Collin College professor sues school over dismissal over COVID-19 criticism

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A Collin College professor who alleges she was fired from her job for challenging the schools’ COVID-19 response is now suing the school.

Suzanne Jones learned in January that her contract with the school would not be renewed at the end of the semester. She and her colleague professor Audra Heaslip had both previously publicly asked how school officials are handling the coronavirus pandemic.

Now Jones has filed a federal lawsuit against Collin College, President Neil Matkin and Toni Jenkins, the former senior vice president of campus operations, claiming she has faced retaliation for speaking out about pandemic issues .

Jones is seeking to be reinstated in college and returned all promotions and other benefits to her, according to the lawsuit.

Collin College spokeswoman Marisela Cadena-Smith said the school was following board-approved policies and procedures regarding faculty contracts and its non-renewal processes.

It’s unfortunate that a former faculty member has filed a lawsuit, but the college is eager to defend its action in court, Cadena-Smith added.

Out of respect for our former employee and due to an ongoing litigation, we will not be making any further public statements on this matter, she said.

In 2017, Jones signed his name with Collin College on a letter published supporting the removal of a Confederate monument in Dallas. Soon after, the school administration asked Jones to remove the college name from the letter, according to the lawsuit.

The following year, Jones signed a three-year contract with Collin College which was to expire on May 31, 2021.

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the college in the spring of last year, Jones was a faculty council member at Collin College. The board was tasked with publishing a proposed plan for how the school would progress amid the pandemic.

After the board presented its proposed plan to management, the college released its own COVID-19 plan. Most of the counsels’ proposals were not included, according to the lawsuit.

Jones was also part of the Collin Colleges section of the Texas Faculty Association, which was launched last summer. Jones said the members have come together to defend academic freedom and safe working conditions, although the group is not empowered to bargain collectively.

Later that fall, Jones was contacted by the college to remove his academic degrees from the state associations website, citing that he did not want to be associated with a union.

At the end of the year, Jones and members of the TFA were preparing for a panel on free speech and academic freedom at the Collin College Faculty Development Conference in January 2021.

Amid preparations in December, TFA members were told by the school that the panel had been withdrawn, according to the lawsuit.

A month later, in January 2021, Jones learned that his contract would not be renewed. School officials cited the 2017 and 2020 incidents, as well as Jones challenging the school’s COVID-19 response as to why his contract would not be renewed, according to the lawsuit.

Jones and his attorney declined to comment on the trial on Thursday.

Collin College made headlines again this year with the dismissal of another faculty member. They also claimed it was because of criticism of COVID-19 and freedom of speech issues.

The DMN Education Lab deepens coverage and conversation on pressing education issues critical to the future of North Texas.

The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from The Beck Group, Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, The Meadows Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network , Southern Methodist University and Todd A. Williams Family Foundation. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control over Education Labs journalism.

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