Former professor who criticized DEI policies at California college receives $2.4 million settlement



A former tenured professor in California has reached a whopping $2.4 million settlement with his former employer after he was allegedly disciplined for criticizing DEI policies at the community college where he once worked, the College Fix reported.

In 2021, Matthew Garrett filed a lawsuit against the Kern Community College District after he was allegedly disciplined for voicing conservative views and questioning DEI policies at Bakersfield College, where Garrett taught history.

Among other things, Garrett openly criticized Bakersfield's numerous alleged faculty trainings related to implicit bias and microaggressions; "racial quotas and preferences, affirmative action-type behavior ... [and] racially segregated classes"; and mandates related to COVID-19, as Blaze News previously reported.

'Facing an imminent ruling in my favor and the prospect of paying millions of dollars in damages, KCCD had only one viable option: settlement.'

Garrett also began exploring whether any Bakersfield faculty were illicitly diverting grant money to social justice projects.

Between his outspoken views and his involvement in the Renegade Institute for Liberty, a group of Bakersfield faculty members who value "free speech" and the "Western tradition," Garrett said he became a target of Bakersfield colleagues and administrators, who accused him of engaging in racism and hate speech.

Now, more than four years later, Garrett and Kern Community College District have reached a settlement. The district will pay Garrett $2.4 million over the course of 20 years plus a one-time payment of $154,520 less taxes for lost wages. In exchange, Garrett resigned his tenured position effective April 2023.

As part of the settlement, neither party admitted wrongdoing.

"To be clear, the dispute with Matthew Garrett was a disciplinary matter due to his disruptive actions on campus, none of which concerned freedom of speech," the district said in a statement about the settlement. "Kern Community College District unequivocally supports the right for our students and faculty to share their views and opinions on campus and elsewhere. As a District, we create an environment that provides our diverse students and communities with the opportunity to professionally engage with new ideas."

"KCCD believes the settlement is in the best interest of the District and allows us to focus on the future and continue to deliver quality higher education for students of Kern County without any further legal distractions."

Garrett, by contrast, hailed the settlement as a victory for free speech and academic freedom.

"Facing an imminent ruling in my favor and the prospect of paying millions of dollars in damages, KCCD had only one viable option: settlement," Garrett said. "To my colleagues at Bakersfield College and nationwide, I say: Keep the faith; we are winning the battle, one case at a time."

As Blaze News previously reported, Garrett is hardly the only former or current Bakersfield faculty member who accused administrators of persecuting conservatives. Professor Erin Miller, who still works at the school, joined Garrett in a federal lawsuit to allege that the district had violated their First Amendment rights.

Garrett has since left the lawsuit, telling the College Fix that Miller "will continue on alone, and has ample grounds for litigation." He also told the outlet that she "continues to suffer retaliation by the administration," including having some of her classes canceled.

In June 2023, Daymon Johnson, a current Bakersfield history professor and member of the Renegade Institute for Liberty, filed a lawsuit against KCCD, alleging that he routinely "refrains from expressing himself on political matters for fear of being subjected to further investigations and termination."

Johnson's lawsuit also seeks "to block enforcement of unconstitutional, repressive rules and practices that prevent Bakersfield College ... faculty from exercising basic rights to free speech and academic freedom."

That litigation appears to be ongoing.

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Far-left activist learns unforgettable lesson after she threatens to murder entire city council: 'See you at your house'



A far-left activist went viral over the weekend after video showed her weeping in a courtroom as a judge arraigned her on more than a dozen felonies.

Last week, 28-year-old Riddhi Patel was arrested in the middle of a Bakersfield City Council meeting after she openly communicated death threats to Mayor Karen Goh (R) and the rest of the city council.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Patel spoke twice. At first, she voiced her outrage because the city council has not supported a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

"You all are horrible human beings, and Jesus probably would have killed you himself," she said. "While you guys parade Gandhi around ... I remind you that these holidays that we practice, that other people in the global south practice, believe in violent revolution against their oppressors, and I hope one day somebody brings the guillotine and kills all of you motherf**kers."

Later in the meeting, Patel complained about increased security measures at city council meetings, including metal detectors. After personally attacking the politicians with her words, Patel ratcheted up her rhetoric.

"We'll see you at your house. We'll murder you," she threatened.

Patel then tried to return to her seat as if everything was normal. But Mayor Goh had other plans.

"That was a threat, what you said at the end, so officers are going to escort you out and take care of that," she said.

Patel was promptly arrested and slapped with 18 felony charges: 10 counts of threatening with the intent to terrorize a public official and eight counts of threatening certain public officials.

Patel appeared in court last Friday, where she was seen wearing a brown jail uniform. As she was arraigned, Patel was weeping uncontrollably. The judge set her bail at $1 million.

Patel identifies as nonbinary, according to KPAK-TV.

NEW: Protester who threatened to murder Bakersfield City Council members weeps in court as she faces over a dozen felony counts.

This is incredibly satisfying.

"I hope one day somebody brings the guillotine & kills all of you motherf**kers," Riddhi Patel said.

Hours later, she… pic.twitter.com/t9ajA8eZJv
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 13, 2024

Mayor Goh is not speaking about the incident, KGET-TV reported. But councilman and Vice Mayor Andrae Gonzales said Patel's threats prove why they need increased security.

"Making real threats to elected officials and decision makers is not the way to influence others," he told KGET. "Nobody on the city council will be intimidated to action."

Patel is due back in court on April 16.

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'A First Amendment victory': Christian baker can refuse to make a cake for lesbian wedding, California court says

'A First Amendment victory': Christian baker can refuse to make a cake for lesbian wedding, California court says



A Christian baker can refuse to make a cake for an event, such as a same-sex wedding, that conflicts with her religious beliefs, a California judge has determined.

In 2017, Cathy Miller — the owner of Tastries Bakery and Boutique in Bakersfield, California — was approached to bake a customized cake for an upcoming lesbian wedding. Because the event conflicted with Miller's Christian beliefs regarding the nature of marriage, she refused to lend her artistry to a customized cake. However, she did offer the couple, Eileen and Mireya Rodriguez-del Rio, two alternatives: She could bake them a generic, pre-made cake that would not require her personal artistry, or she could recommend to them other bakeries which could accommodate their request.

Miller's attorneys at the Thomas More Society claim that after this "polite refusal," Miller was then "targeted by gay activists" and sued for discrimination by the state Department of Fair Housing and Employment.

In multiple lawsuits, the DFHE argued that, by denying the lesbian couple a customized cake, Tasteries and Cathy’s Creations, Inc. had violated the Unruh Civil Rights Act, a California law passed in 1959 and since expanded to protect consumers against discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or religion.

Paul Jonna, TMS special counsel and partner at LiMandri & Jonna LLP, noted that there is "a certain irony ... that a law intended to protect individuals from religious discrimination was used to discriminate against Cathy for her religious beliefs."

And, based on excerpts of cross-examination from the civil trial held in July, it appears that the state's attorneys did indeed "discriminate against Cathy," probing her about the depth and sincerity of her Christian beliefs. According to a statement from TMS, attorney for the state Gregory Mann even asked Miller whether she adhered to Old Testament dietary laws "in terms of not eating pigs, not eating shellfish, et cetera" in an effort to cast doubt on Miller's testimony that she does her "best" to follow "everything that the Bible says."

Despite the state's best legal efforts, Judge Eric Bradshaw of the Superior Court of California in Kern County ruled in favor of Miller. The DFHE "is barred by defendants' rights to Free Speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution from enforcing the Unruh Civil Rights Act to compel or prohibit defendants' speech," Bradshaw's ruling said in part.

TMS, which provided legal counsel to Miller pro bono, has celebrated the ruling as "a First Amendment victory."

"The freedom to practice one’s religion is enshrined in the First Amendment, and the United States Supreme Court has long upheld the freedom of artistic expression," said Charles LiMandri, special counsel at TMS and partner at LiMandri & Jonna LLP.

Miller has always insisted that she never meant to discriminate against anyone. She wanted only to run her business in accordance with the precepts of her religion. Back in 2017, she told news reporters, "Here at Tastries, we love everyone. My husband and I are Christians, and we know that God created everyone, and He created everyone equal, so it's not that we don't like people of certain groups. There is just certain things that violate my conscience."

The Associated Press reported that the Rodriguez-del Rios expect the decision to be appealed.

Below is a news segment from July about the civil trial:

California junior high student arrested after school supervisor overdoses due to fentanyl 'inhalation' exposure: Report



A 13-year-old in Bakersfield, California, was arrested after fentanyl pills were reportedly discovered on his person, and a school supervisor suffered an exposure overdose as a result.

Just after 9 a.m. local time last Friday, Bakersfield police were called to Chipman Junior High School where a school supervisor had suffered an accidental fentanyl overdose after breaking up an altercation between two students. During the incident, the school employee conducted a search on one of the students involved and found nearly 150 fentanyl pills disguised as Percocet (oxycodone) pills, police said. It is unclear whether the other student had been searched as well.

Though the supervisor did not ingest any of the pills, the act of opening the pill bottle itself exposed the employee to an "inhalation hazard," according to reports. The supervisor subsequently suffered a contact overdose, and a local high school police officer immediately gave the employee Narcan, also known as naloxone, a drug often administered to offset the effects of opioid overdose.

The employee, whose name and gender are unknown, was then taken to the hospital for treatment. The employee is said to be in stable condition, according to police. Whether the employee remains in the hospital now is unclear.

The 13-year-old boy allegedly found carrying the fentanyl was placed under arrest for possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of sales and taken to a juvenile detention facility. The boy had $300 in cash on his person at the time of his arrest, though whether he had actually distributed or sold any of the pills is unclear.

Police are still investigating to determine how the student acquired the pills.

California has recently become a hotbed for drug trafficking. Law enforcement agents speculate that, because of the state's lax drug laws and its intricate interstate highway matrix, drug cartels have set up shop in many locations throughout the state so that they may manufacture their wares and then distribute them throughout the country. Fentanyl has lately become their preferred product to sell.

"It’s so unstable, very cheap," said one undercover cartel investigator. "You can buy a fentanyl pill for three to five dollars on the street, and in that one pill for three to five dollars, you can be dead."

"Accidental overdoses are almost exclusively fentanyl now," added Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones.