Racking Up the Fees
Matan Goldstein, the Jewish student who was subjected to repeated antisemitic treatment at the University of Virginia, has settled his lawsuit against the University. Terms of the settlement were not revealed.
While the public cannot know how much UVA paid, if anything, to make the problem go away, we can get a sense of how much it spent on legal fees.
According to billing documents obtained by my colleague at The Jefferson Council Walter Smith, Richmond law firm McGuire Woods billed $521,000 dollars in July, August, and September, charging as much as $1,054 per hour for partner Jonathan T. Blank’s time.
UVA has proven to be a lucrative client for outside counsel.
Former medical student Kieran Bhattacharya, whose problems at UVA began when he grilled the presenter of a microaggressions session, is appealing his case against UVA to the U.S. Supreme Court.
UVA settled with former student Morgan Bettinger, who was accused of racism, punished on the basis of information later found to be inaccurate, and denied a request to expunge the punishment from her record.
UVA is still engaged in lengthy litigation with former employees of the UVA Health System who lost their jobs after refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccination in violation of their religious beliefs.
Perhaps this is business as usual for a large university. But don’t be surprised if the list grows as more people push back against blatant double standards.
James A. Bacon is the founder of Bacon’s Rebellion and a contributing editor with The Jefferson Council.
