A California community college district agreed to pay a conservative professor $2.4 million in a recent settlement agreement after a years-long legal battle between the two sides.
“After five years of mismanagement, conclusive evidence in court has exonerated me of all charges and revealed the Kern Community College District’s blatant retaliation against my questions about partisan policies and wasteful spending,” Matthew Garrett responded in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Faced with an imminent judgment in my favor and the possibility of paying millions of dollars in damages, KCCD had no other viable option but to settle.”
Garrett, formerly a tenured history professor at Bakersfield College in Southern California, filed a federal lawsuit against the Kern Community College District (KCCD) in 2021. In the lawsuit, Garrett alleged that school officials retaliated against him and a colleague for questioning whether grant money was being improperly used for social justice efforts on campus.
Garrett also claimed that he and other faculty members from the campus Free Speech Coalition were targeted with false accusations after asking questions during a campus diversity meeting in October 2022.
The district board voted to fire Garrett in April 2023, accusing him of multiple instances of “immoral and unprofessional conduct,” which he vehemently denies.
The professor challenged the suspension in court, and after Garrett’s lawyers argued his case before an administrative law judge in May, the two sides reached a settlement last month, agreeing to end all disputes and claims surrounding Garrett’s employment.
As part of the settlement agreement, obtained by Fox News Digital, the district agreed to pay Garrett $2.4 million. The agreement includes “general and emotional distress damages” and attorneys’ fees. The total payment also includes a lump sum of $154,520 for unpaid wages and medical benefits since his firing.
As part of the settlement, Garrett agreed to resign from his position with the district, and the administration also agreed to remove the unprofessional conduct report and charges from Garrett’s record and seal any documentation of disciplinary actions taken against him from his personnel file.
The settlement states the agreement “is not an admission of wrongdoing or liability by either the District or Garrett.”
A KCCD district spokesperson provided the following statement to Fox News Digital:
“Kern Community College District (KCCD) has resolved all matters with Matthew Garrett. Matthew Garrett has voluntarily resigned from his position and all litigation related to this matter has been resolved. KCCD believes this settlement is in the best interest of the district, allowing it to focus on the future and continue to provide a quality higher education to Kern County students without further legal entanglements. To be clear, the dispute with Matthew Garrett is a disciplinary matter resulting from his disruptive behavior on campus and is in no way related to free speech. Kern Community College District unequivocally supports the right of students, faculty and staff to share their opinions and views on and off campus. As a district, we foster an environment that provides opportunities for our diverse student body and community to engage professionally with new ideas.”
“As this is a confidential personnel matter, we will not be commenting further.”
Garrett said he was grateful for the support he’s received and called the settlement a victory.
“I thank the many people who have been by my side during this difficult time and invite you to join us in our victory. To my colleagues at Bakersfield College and across the country, I say: keep the faith; we are winning, one battle at a time,” the statement continued.
