BOCA RATON, Fla. — Florida Atlantic University will pay thousands to investigate professors for their conduct after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, according to documents WPTV obtained from a public records request.
Documents show the public university hired an outside legal firm with GOP connections over other internal methods to investigate staff members. At least one of those attorneys appears to have worked for the Republican Party of Florida when current FAU President Adam Hasner served as majority leader for the party in the state’s House of Representatives.
WATCH: FAU hires outside legal firm to investigate employees
The man overseeing the investigation, according to a letter one of the professors being investigated posted to X, is Alan Lawson.
Lawson’s bio at the firm lists him as founding shareholder and a former Florida Supreme Court Justice, appointed by then-Governor Rick Scott (R). He was also appointed to the Fifth District Court of Appeals by then-Governor Jeb Bush (R).
Records show taxpayers will pay Lawson’s firm $925 an hour along with $495 for other shareholders, $390 for associates and $225 for paralegals.
READ LETTER FROM LAW FIRM:
One of those shareholders is Jason Gonzalez, who was a member of the Florida Republican Party Executive Board.
A former employer in a press release said Gonzalez was also the general counsel to the Republican Party of Florida as well as the general counsel to the Florida governor and the gubernatorial appointee to the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission.
Gonzalez’s service with the Republican Party came around the same time FAU President Adam Hasner served as the party’s majority leader in the House of Representatives.
The firm directed all comments about concerns of impartiality to the school. FAU didn’t respond to WPTV’s inquiries about how the firm was selected to conduct investigations.
WHO IS BEING INVESTIGATED?
Dr. Karen Leader, an associate professor of art history at FAU, is being investigated after she shared posts on X calling Kirk racist, transphobic and homophobic.
She told WPTV in September that she has since deleted a post alleging Kirk used a racial slur after finding it was not true, but left the other posts up, saying she wanted to start a discourse about what she called the “whitewashing of a controversial figure.”
“What I did is posted or reposted a lot of content that offered proof that he had said vile things and targeted populations and demonstrated his bigotry, and I was mostly reposting evidence,” Leader said in September.
Education
EXCLUSIVE: FAU professor placed on leave over Kirk posts speaks to WPTV
Her attorney, HB Stivers, said he believed the investigation would be fair and impartial because of the integrity of those involved.
Dr. Rebel Cole, a professor of finance at FAU, is under scrutiny after posting messages in response to online criticism of Kirk following his assassination.
Cole wrote, “We are going to hunt you down” and “We are going to identify you,” according to posts shared on X.
Dr. Kate Polak, who is an instructor and research associate at the school’s department of English, is also on paid administrative leave regarding her comments after Kirk’s assassination. University Press, FAU’s student newspaper, said the suspension was over comments she made on her Threads account.
WPTV contacted Cole and Polak and didn’t make successful contact.
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