Christian professor sues University of Arizona for alleged firing over gender policy advocacy
A former University of Arizona professor, Daniel Grossenbach, has filed a lawsuit claiming he was unlawfully fired for publicly opposing gender ideology at school board meetings.
The lawsuit alleges that anonymous complaints and online critics pressured the university to dismiss him in retaliation for his religious speech and parental rights advocacy.
A former professor recently filed a lawsuit against the University of Arizona, alleging he was unlawfully fired for speaking out against gender ideology at school board meetings.
Daniel Grossenbach, a Christian apologist, openly opposed policies that allowed public school teachers to survey students about gender and sexuality without informing parents.
Grossenbach is represented by Liberty Counsel, and is seeking reinstatement, damages, and a court order declaring the university’s actions unconstitutional.
Liberty Counsel is a Christian ministry dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and the family, according to its website.
According to the lawsuit, Grossenbach, a former ethics professor at the University of Arizona, was unlawfully fired after anonymous complaints targeted his religious speech and parental rights advocacy.
Grossenbach helped form Save Catalina Foothills School Board (SaveCFSD), a nonprofit responding to school district policies that, he argued, promoted “radical gender ideologies” while keeping parents in the dark.
The lawsuit also alleges that online critics organized to “silence” Grossenbach by pressuring the university to terminate his adjunct position.
Soon after complaints were filed, the university dismissed him, offering a “pretextual” explanation that a full-time professor would replace him. Yet no such hire occurred, and the school later advertised nearly identical adjunct roles.
Grossenbach claims his firing was retaliation against constitutionally protected speech and religious exercise, violating the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
“Professors at public universities and colleges do not shed their constitutional rights to free speech and religious exercise when they work for a university,” Liberty Counsel Chairman Mat Staver said. “The University of Arizona cannot fire a professor for his protected speech.”
In response to a request for comment from Campus Reform, University of Arizona spokesperson Mieczyslaw Zak stated, “We will not comment on this pending legal matter.”
As Campus Reform has reported, Grossenbach’s suit is not the only complaint filed by a professor alleging left-wing discrimination in higher education.
The University of California, Berkeley, for instance, is being sued for allegedly refusing to rehire an Israeli scholar in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, citing anti-Israel campus tensions.
Last year, Hunter College professor Leah Garrett sued the school, alleging it failed to address anti-Semitism and allowed “relentless hostility and unequal treatment because of her Jewish identity.”
Similarly, this summer Ohio Northern University reinstated law professor Scott Gerber after settling his lawsuit, which alleged he was fired in retaliation for publicly criticizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and opposing racially discriminatory hiring.
