⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Eleventh Circuit hears an early appeal in professor Charles Negy's First Amendment retaliation case against four University of Central Florida officials. In 2020, Negy's personal tweets about race provoked public demands that UCF fire him. The university then investigated complaints about his classroom conduct and fired him in January 2021. Arbitration reinstated him; he sued, saying the classroom inquiry was a pretext for punishing his protected speech. The officials say the classroom complaints, not his tweets, supplied a lawful reason to discipline him. The district court ruled that a jury could find pretext and denied qualified immunity to four officials, so they appealed before trial. Qualified immunity normally shields officials from personal liability unless they violate a clearly established right; the question here is whether this record lets them end the case now. Kristie Hatcher-Bolin of GrayRobinson represents the officials and will argue that no clear precedent required them to ignore substantiated classroom complaints.

Negy v. Cartwright et al. (No. 25-11929) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, argued September 29, 2026.