Evergreen State Will Pay $500,000 to Settle With Professor Who Criticized Handling of Protests

Evergreen State College will pay $500,000 to settle a legal claim by Bret Weinstein, the professor who criticized the Washington college’s handling of protests last spring, and his wife, Heather Heying. Mr. Weinstein and Ms. Heying, both professors at the college, resigned on Friday, and Evergreen State admitted no liability as part of an agreement, reported The Olympian.

In the spring, as students protested what they saw as racism on the campus, Mr. Weinstein appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight, the Fox News show, to criticize the institution’s administration for “allowing this mob to control the campus.” Among other things, Mr. Weinstein criticized the campus’s traditional “Day of Absence,” in which white students were asked to stay off campus for a day.

In July, Mr. Weinstein and Ms. Heying filed a claim against the college, indicating their intent to file a lawsuit. The couple sought $3.85 million from Evergreen State for failing “to protect its employees from repeated provocative and corrosive verbal and written hostility based on race, as well as threats of physical violence.”

According to The Olympian, the college will pay $450,000 to the couple and $50,000 toward their legal costs. The newspaper reported that messages to Mr. Weinstein and the couple’s lawyer were not answered on Saturday.