The Professor Hubble Lawsuit: Firing, Claims, and $275K Settlement

The Casey Hubble lawsuit ended in December 2023 with a $275,000 settlement between the fired McLennan Community College government professor and the Waco, Texas college he sued in federal court over his 2022 termination. Hubble alleged First Amendment and due process violations after MCC revoked his tenure following a brief confrontation with a campus police officer. He was not reinstated, and the case was formally dismissed in January 2024.¹

What Triggered the Firing

On January 25, 2022, Hubble confronted an MCC campus police officer whose vehicle, he said, was blocking his access to a handicapped parking space while the officer conducted a traffic stop. Hubble later described the exchange as lasting under 30 seconds with no threats or physical contact.²

A week later, on February 1, he was arrested on campus and charged with interference with public duties, a Class B misdemeanor. The McLennan County District Attorney’s Office dropped the charge, finding a verbal exchange with an officer insufficient to prosecute. The charge was reinstated at MCC’s request, then dropped a second time on September 1, 2022.²

The same day as his arrest, MCC President Johnette McKown notified Hubble that the college intended to revoke his tenure and fire him. After an internal review process running from March through July, the MCC Board of Trustees voted unanimously on August 2, 2022 to terminate him for “good cause.”³ Hubble had taught at MCC for roughly 16 years.¹

What Hubble Claimed in Federal Court

Hubble filed suit on October 19, 2022, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, naming both the college and President McKown as defendants.² The complaint rested on three arguments:

Revoking his tenure and firing him violated his First Amendment right to free speech.
The college denied him his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process, in part because his pending criminal charge kept him from fully defending the parking-lot incident during the internal hearings, and because MCC introduced older disciplinary matters going back to 2005.
The termination was partly retaliation for a complaint he had filed with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, MCC’s accreditor, alleging excessive full-time faculty workloads.

He sought reinstatement, unspecified monetary damages, and attorney’s fees.²

How the College Responded

MCC denied all of Hubble’s allegations, disputed his account of the January 25 encounter, and maintained that it had followed proper procedures under its Academic Freedom, Responsibility, and Tenure Policy. The college also asked the court to sever President McKown from the suit, arguing she had acted only in her official capacity.²

How the Case Ended

The parties agreed to a $275,000 settlement in December 2023. The agreement included a mutual non-disparagement clause, and each side paid its own legal fees. Hubble did not return to teaching at MCC.¹

According to Peter Rusek, MCC’s attorney, the college believed its motions for summary judgment “stood a good chance of success,” but its insurance company pushed for settlement once legal costs reached a certain level. Hubble’s attorney, Douglas Becker, addressed the absence of reinstatement directly: “They didn’t want him back and he didn’t want to go back.”¹

The lawsuit was formally dismissed in January 2024, with both attorneys confirming no further legal action is expected.¹

1
Waco Tribune-Herald. MCC, Fired Professor Settle Federal Suit for $275,000
2
Waco Tribune-Herald. MCC Professor Files Federal Lawsuit Over Firing
3
McLennan Community College. Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes, August 2, 2022