Instructor Sues College Over Ejection From Board Meeting

A tenured teacher at Antelope Valley Community College who was ejected from a public hearing last month after calling the school’s president “draconian and Machiavellian” filed suit in federal court Tuesday, accusing the school’s board of directors of violating his constitutional rights.

John Hall, a teacher at the school for 20 years, contends that board President Earl Wilson violated his right to free speech during a June 9 board meeting. He is seeking unspecified damages, records show.

According to Hall, Wilson ordered a guard to remove him from the meeting during a public comment period for his criticism of the school’s new president. “I had the floor,” Hall said. “I never cussed and had every right to say what I did.”

Hall claimed that college President Linda Spink “failed to comprehend the mission of the school” and created dissension among the faculty.

Wilson interrupted, telling Hall that he had “gone too far,” Hall said. Still reading his speech, he was escorted out of the room by a guard, Hall said.

Hall said in an interview last month that he would not file a lawsuit if Wilson apologized. “I heard nothing,” Hall said Tuesday night. “Wilson was on the radio saying he would do it again. What they did was outrageous and unlawful and they need to learn that they have to obey the law.”