A local university is asking a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit filed by a professor who lost his job after posting profane anti-Israel Twitter messages.
Lawyers for the University of Illinois are filing a motion arguing Steven Salaita did not have a binding contract to work for the university.
Salaita's lawyers say the motion is ignoring normal academic hiring practices.
Salaita accepted an offer in 2013 to teach at the Urbana-Champaign campus, but the offer was revoked after he posted the Twitter messages.
His lawsuit argues that he was already hired, making his speech protected.