Estate of adjunct whistleblower sues university

Attorneys for the estate of a former adjunct music instructor at Western New Mexico University are suing the school, claiming breach of contract, retaliatory discharge, and civil rights violations.

Charlotte Ashford, then 39, was refused renewal of her adjunct teaching contract after she brought forward student complaints against a tenure-track associate professor. The estate says that Ashford got consistently high student ratings and that her retention was supported by her department chair.  The decision came after she raised questions about how one of the tenure-track faculty had been treating students.

The former adjunct died of cancer in August.