The verdict is in, and Dr. Mike Adams is taking UNCW back to court. The Richmond Federal Appeals Court ruled to send Adams’ First Amendment retaliation claim back to district court in Greenville, N.C.

“I told you [The Seahawk] back in January that I expected to win,” Adams said. “But I didn’t expect to win this big. It was a unanimous verdict.”

In January, the associate criminology professor took his lawsuit against UNCW for denying him a promotion to full professor to the 4th District Federal Appeals Court. He appealed the case because in March 2010, a federal court rejected Adams’ claim that UNCW had committed viewpoint discrimination when denying him the promotion to full professor.

The university’s motion to dismiss the suit was accepted because Judge Malcolm J. Howard said that Adams did not prove that the university denied him the promotion based only on his Christian and conservative views. Adams’ views were expressed through his online columns, and they were not to be considered protected by his work-related freedom of speech. However, Adams did include the columns in his portfolio with the application for promotion. The decision referenced a 2006 Supreme Court case, Garcetti v. Cabellos. But Adams said that he felt like that was a broad reading of the Garcetti v. Cabellos case.

The 4th District Federal Appeals Court also thought that the district court misread the Garcetti case.

In the opinion for the case, Judge G. Steven Agee wrote, “The district court’s initial error lies in its conclusion that Adams’ speech, which the Defendants agree was protected First Amendment speech when initially given, was converted into unprotected speech based on factors that came into play only after the protected speech was made.”

UNCW can now appeal to the Supreme Court, if they choose. WWAY reported that UNCW general counsel Rob Hoon said in a statement: “We are pleased that summary judgment has been affirmed, and that the plaintiff’s claims of religious discrimination and equal protection have been dismissed. The third claim has been remanded to the district court for further review; as such, it is not a victory for either the plaintiff or the defendant.”

Currently, no court dates are set. However, for right now, Adams is just pleased with the victory.

“I am so excited and happy,” Adams said. “The First Amendment issue is a big, big, big issue. I’ve received emails from other professors with their support. Even the Chronicle of Higher Education, which is on the opposite side of me politically, wrote a great article about the case.”