# Accusing University Lecturer Who Called Police of “Blatant Racial Profiling” Leads to $37,500 Defamation Verdict

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/accusing-university-lecturer-who-called-police-of-blatant-racial-profiling-leads-to-37500-defamation-verdict/
- Published: 2026-11-03T14:07:56+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-03T23:05:48+00:00
- Original publisher: Reason
- Original article: https://reason.com/volokh/2026/11/03/accusing-university-lecturer-who-called-police-of-blatant-racial-profiling-leads-to-37500-defamation-verdict/
- Topics: Politics

## Key points

- Jury awards lecturer $37,500 in a defamation case.
- The dispute centred on a claim of “blatant racial profiling”.
- The court said the statement could imply intentional misconduct.

## Summary

A jury awarded a Central Washington University lecturer $37,500 in a defamation case over a colleague’s claim that a campus incident was “blatant racial profiling”. The verdict matters because the court had allowed the claim to proceed, finding a jury could interpret the phrase as accusing the lecturer of intentionally targeting a Black professor.

The lecturer had called campus police about an older woman he described as apparently homeless; an officer identified her as a CWU professor, and no further action followed. A faculty senate member later circulated notes saying police had been called because a person of colour was sitting in a building lobby and had been made to show ID. The court said a common-interest privilege could apply to faculty communications, but could be lost if the speaker acted outside their work or with reckless disregard for the truth.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.