Chapel Hill, NC – The University of North Carolina (UNC) is under fire again after a former professor, Larry Chavis, filed a federal lawsuit late last week detailing how he faced repeated retaliation like being secretly recorded by administrators and eventually dismissed after speaking out about discriminatory practices at the university’s Kenan-Flagler Business School (KFBS).
Chavis is represented by Artur Davis and Sunny Panyanouvong-Rubeck of HKM Employment Attorneys.
Chavis, a member of the Lumbee tribe of North Carolina, was repeatedly passed over for promotion in fa
vor of less qualified candidates and paid significantly less than his peers despite his 18-year career at UNC according to the lawsuit. Meanwhile he was repeatedly admonished by administrators for his outspoken advocacy for racial inclusion and equity and warnings that his views were too controversial for North Carolina’s “conservative legislature.”
UNC’s antagonism toward Chavis came to a head in April when he was notified that administrators had secretly recorded several of his classes despite university policy which says that “recordings are to be accessed and used only as directed by the faculty member teaching the course.” In fact, the lawsuit goes on to argue that the recording may have even violated North Carolina law which would have required at least one of those being recorded to give their permission. No permission was given.
Following outrage and media scrutiny over the secret recordings, KFBS Dean Mary Margaret Frank notified Chavis that his contract would not be renewed. No reason was ever given. In fact, just four months earlier, before the taping came to light, Associate Dean Christian Lundblad had assured Chavis that his contract would be renewed.
“The University of North Carolina system has done much to silence Larry Chavis. He has been denied promotions he earned, he is paid less than rookie professors fresh off a PH.D, and his classes were secretly recorded,” said Davis. “When the suppression didn’t work, they finally fired him.”
“Chavis paid a price for being too progressive. But UNC’s conduct should trouble any academic of any ideology whose view lands on the wrong side of the political pendulum.”
Chavis’ lawsuit is only the latest in a long line of controversies at the university centered around race and gender including an ongoing federal lawsuit filed by Rose Brown, the only Black female in the KFBS Ph.D. program, alleging repeated discrimination by administrators. In 2021, UNC officials faced criticism for deny tenure to Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and academic Nikole Hannah-Jones and in 2024, just one month prior to dismissing Chavis, UNC’s Board of Governors voted to formally repeal the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policy and to eliminate the university’s DEI officer position.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
