I was all prepared to write a post about astronomer Martin Gaskell’s lawsuit against the University of Kentucky, but Jesus Creed blogger RJS (a scientist at a major research university) beat me to the punch and stole many of my points. Here’s a quick summary of Gaskell’s case (which is still pending). According to news reports:
- Gaskell was a leading candidate for a new position in UK’s Department of Physics and Astronomy as a director for a public observatory. Gaskell had held a similar position at the University of Nebraska and received high marks for his professional work.
- During the interview process, UK faculty began raising questions about Gaskell’s religious beliefs and his beliefs about evolution and cosmology. These questions were triggered after a faculty member found Gaskell’s personal website and notes from a lecture Gaskell has given several times called Modern Astronomy, the Bible, and Creation.
- Gaskell was not hired by UK, and his lawsuit alleges religious discrimination.
You can also read the AP story, the lawsuit itself (PDF), and a blog post from the Chronicle.
This lawsuit is unusual in a couple of regards. First, it exists. While there have been a couple of other high profile cases in which scientists claim religious discrimination, almost none of them have resulted in a lawsuit. Second, it’s going forward – UK asked for it to be dismissed in November, and a judge rejected that motion. Third, there appears to be a clear paper trail (or email trail, if you please) that reveals internal discussions at UK about Gaskell’s religious beliefs. Gaskell also alleges that the physics department consulted members of the biology department about his religious beliefs, which seems highly irregular to me. Also, if you read the lawsuit, the catalyst for legal action was an equal opportunity complaint filed by a current UK employee who had concerns about this situation. I wonder if that person’s identify will be revealed at some point and what kind of fallout there will be for them.
Like I said, RJS has raised a number of good points already. Instead, I want to ask the question:
How open should you be about your faith? [Read more…] about How open should you be about your faith?