The Latest: Court: Fired conservative professor faced bias

MILWAUKEE — The Latest on a conservative college professor alleging he was wrongly fired after criticizing a student instructor (all times local):

9:10 a.m.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court says a fired conservative professor faced "unacceptable bias" from the faculty panel at Marquette University that recommended he be disciplined after he criticized an instructor he believed shut down debate against gay marriage.

The ruling Friday broke along ideological lines. The conservative majority sided with former professor John McAdams and said he should immediately be reinstated.

Liberal justices disagreed, saying academic freedom doesn't protect McAdams from discipline and called his actions reckless.

Marquette says McAdams wasn't fired for the content of his 2014 blog post, but because he named the instructor and linked to her personal website that had personal identifying information. The instructor later received a flood of hateful messages and threats.

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8:20 a.m.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court says Marquette University shouldn't have fired a conservative professor over his blog post criticizing a student instructor he believed shut down discussion about opposition to gay marriage

The ruling Friday sides with former professor John McAdams. It concludes Marquette breached its contract with him guaranteeing academic freedom. The court says McAdams should immediately be reinstated.

McAdams sued the private Catholic school in 2016, arguing that he lost his job for exercising freedom of speech.

Marquette says McAdams wasn't fired for the content of his 2014 post, but because he named the instructor and linked to her personal website that had personal identifying information. The instructor later received a flood of hateful messages and threats.

The ruling has been eagerly awaited by conservatives who see universities as liberal havens and by private businesses that want control over employee discipline.

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12 a.m.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is set to rule on whether Marquette University was correct to fire a conservative professor who wrote a blog post criticizing a student instructor he believed shut down discussion against gay marriage.

John McAdams sued the private Catholic school in 2016, arguing that he lost his job for exercising freedom of speech.

Marquette says McAdams wasn't fired for the content of his 2014 post , but because he named the instructor and linked to her personal website that had personal identifying information. The instructor later received a flood of hateful messages and threats.

The court heard arguments in April . The ruling expected Friday has been eagerly awaited by conservatives who see universities as liberal havens and by private businesses that want control over employee discipline.