Former Director of Student Media Jim Rodenbush voluntarily dropped his lawsuit against Indiana University April 22 but told the Indiana Daily Student he plans to refile. The original lawsuit alleged IU violated his First and 14th Amendment rights following his Oct. 14 firing.
Media School Dean David Tolchinsky fired Rodenbush on Oct. 14 of last year after he did not agree to administrator requests that the IDS publish no news content in its Oct. 16 paper ahead of Homecoming.
Hours after Rodenbush’s firing, Tolchinsky cut print for the IDS entirely, a decision IU Bloomington Chancellor David Reingold later walked back in a letter to IDS editors on Oct. 30, where he said Rodenbush’s firing was unrelated to IDS editorial content.
The lawsuit, originally filed in federal court, alleged his 14th Amendment right to due process was violated because he was fired without notice or discussion, as well as his freedom of speech. It also requested the court assess whether IU’s firing of Rodenbush and attempts to direct editorial content were legal violations.
It also sought compensatory and punitive damages for Rodenbush, and asked that IU restore his position and clear his disciplinary action record.
According to court documents obtained by Indiana Public Media, Rodenbush’s lawyers said it’s unclear if a federal court can hear the case.
The 11th Amendment restricts federal courts from hearing cases brought against a state by a non-resident of that state. According to his LinkedIn, Rodenbush will begin a job as an associate professor of journalism at Western Kentucky University this fall.
The Trustees of Indiana University, the respondent in the lawsuit, is a state agency, and therefore is unable to be sued by a non-resident of Indiana without the state’s consent due to the 11th Amendment. Rodenbush was able to dismiss the lawsuit voluntarily with the option to refile in the future because the Trustees had yet to respond to the lawsuit.
“As far as I’m concerned, this doesn’t really change anything,” Rodenbush said in a phone interview with the IDS. “My intent is to see this case until it absolutely is over.”
Rodenbush’s lawyer said in an email to the IDS that they plan to refile in the next couple of weeks, and that the suit will be largely the same. Rodenbush said the refiling is “procedural,” and that the new filing will happen in state court instead of federal.
