University of Illinois to pay Steven Salaita $600,000 over revoked job offer

The Chicago Tribune reports:

University of Illinois trustees on Thursday approved a $600,000 settlement with Steven Salaita, the controversial professor whose job offer was rescinded last year over his string of anti-Israel comments on social media.

The university also will pay $275,000 to Salaita's attorneys to end the 14-month dispute, which already has cost the U. of I. about $1.3 million in legal fees related to lawsuits that Salaita filed after he lost the tenured faculty position.

Salaita has agreed to drop the lawsuits against the university, including a federal suit that alleged breach of contract and violation of his free speech rights. The settlement also makes it clear that Salaita would not get a job at the university now or in the future.

Trustees voted 8-1 to approve the agreement, in which the university admits no wrongdoing, at their regularly scheduled board meeting in Chicago. The settlement will be paid for by self-insurance and institutional funds, which includes some taxpayer money.

Not a bad little score for Comrade Steven Salsita.