A federal judge has rigorously questioned both sides in fired Ohio State University marching band director Jon Waters' civil-rights lawsuit ahead of deciding whether the case should proceed.
Judge James Graham said Friday he'll issue a written decision in the coming days. Waters was terminated in July after an internal investigation said he turned a blind eye to the band's "sexualized culture." Waters' suit accuses the university, President Michael Drake and a provost of discriminating against him by denying him due process and disciplining him differently than a female employee. Graham expressed skepticism that certain university actions stigmatized Waters and shocked the public conscience adequately to constitute due-process violations. He also queried university lawyers on Waters' claims they needed to fire a male to show the school took sexual discrimination seriously.
