NC educator wins settlement after teaching ‘viewpoint diversity’ got him fired

A North Carolina teacher won his lawsuit against the public school that fired him for teaching “viewpoint diversity.”

David Phillips spent eight years teaching English at the Governor’s School of North Carolina – a publicly funded residential summer program for academically gifted high schoolers – before he was unceremoniously fired for teaching students to “see the value in diversity of thought.”

“I could see that the social and political shifts that have pushed critical race theory, gender identity, and other progressive philosophies to the forefront of our culture were beginning to dominate the Governor’s School’s faculty and curriculum,” Phillips wrote of the summer of 2021.

Such progressive philosophies were detailed in his lawsuit against the school, its administration and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. 

The Governor’s School hosted events and seminars exclusive to LGBT members or people of color. There were seminars on drag culture, heteronormativity in pop culture, Marxist theory, and even one on cultural appropriation entitled, “Dear White People . . . Get Out.”   

In response to the rise of left-wing thinking, Phillips hosted a series of elective seminars which condemned critical theory and the lack of viewpoint diversity in higher education.  

That same summer, he was abruptly fired without explanation.  

Philips eventually sued the Governor’s School in December 2023 for unlawful termination, claiming he was also attacked by students and staff on account of his “whiteness, maleness, heterosexuality, and Christianity.”  

This April the school agreed to settle – or perhaps surrender — paying Phillips four years’ worth of his annual stipend and adopting a free speech policy protecting faculty.  

“Teachers shouldn’t be fired for fostering intellectual diversity on campus,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Hal Frampton, who represented Phillips. “Dr. Phillips was beloved, respected, and well-regarded by both students and faculty as an advocate for students who felt their voices weren’t being heard and their perspectives weren’t welcomed at the Governor’s School. We’re pleased to favorably settle this case on his behalf.”  

The new policy codifies the school’s desire to “offer elective seminars that present a wide range of viewpoints” and “accords faculty members the freedom and responsibility to craft academic and intellectual experiences that reflect their unique viewpoints and expertise.”  

As a result of the settlement Phillips is voluntarily dismissing his lawsuit.