Professor Sues Naval Academy

A professor at the U.S. Naval Academy has filed a legal challenge against the school, in response to restrictions placed upon him after he made remarks in class about the military’s sexual-harassment policy. Bruce Fleming, a civilian who has taught English at the academy for 29 years, claims in his lawsuit that he has been denied merit pay and funding unfairly, the Associated Press reported Nov. 5. Fleming received a reprimand last year, after two female midshipmen took exception to remarks he had made a year earlier that indicated he felt the sexual-harassment policy placed an unfair burden on males. The reprimand amounts to a restriction of his First Amendment right to free speech, Fleming claimed in his lawsuit.