CONCORD — Amidst a pending federal lawsuit against the University of New Hampshire brought by a former professor claiming UNH passed over him for employment due to his veteran status after it chose not to renew his contract, the state Senate took action to better protect veterans from discrimination in the university system.

The Senate on Thursday passed SB 455, which amends the state law governing hiring practices, admissions, promotions and recruiting within the state university and community college systems. That law already prohibits discrimination and preferential treatment on the basis of race, sex, national origin, religion or sexual orientation.

Lead sponsor Sen. Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, said he filed the bill last fall when he heard of former UNH professor Nathan Webster’s lawsuit against the university Sept. 30, 2019. Bradley’s bill would amend the law to include active military members, veterans and individuals with a law enforcement background as persons with protected status when they interact with state universities and community colleges as students or employees.

Webster claims UNH violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act and Age Discrimination in Employment Act when he allegedly was not offered employment at several additional positions at UNH he claims he was qualified for after his contract as an English lecturer was not renewed at the end of the 2018 academic year. He argues the decision not to rehire him was due to his status as a veteran.

“I do believe Mr. Webster has a case based on the media reports I read several months ago,” Bradley said.

UNH filed a response to Webster’s complaint in December of last year, denying his claims. UNH spokesperson Erika Mantz said, "We dispute any claims of discrimination and intend to vigorously defend against Mr. Webster’s baseless lawsuit. ... The university supports veterans’ rights and has a long-standing commitment to preventing discrimination of any kind."

Bradley said while he did not believe his bill could be applied retroactively to reinstate Webster’s employment at UNH should it become law. He said he was hopeful it would strengthen Webster’s position for him to reach a settlement with the university.

“I hope it leads to a settlement (in Webster’s lawsuit),” Bradley said, "but I believe very strongly it’s important to protect the next person who could be in a similar position.”

Webster’s attorney Meghan Douglass, of Douglass, Leonard & Garvey, said since Bradley's bill is not yet law, she would not comment if she thought it could be retroactively applied to Webster's case. Generally, she said any kind of legislation that could be used to address retroactive legal action are tailored for specific circumstances, and are, "not a one-size-fits-all approach." She said she and Webster were unaware of Bradley's bill and played no role in crafting it.

"We're confident in our ability to proceed with this lawsuit under federal law," Douglass said. "Though we're happy the issue of veterans' rights is getting attention in the Senate."

Sen. David Watters, D-Dover, was a co-sponsor of Bradley’s bill and said as a longtime American literature professor at UNH, he recalled a time in the 1980s and early 1990s when the campus environment was not always receptive to veterans before UNH set up offices and programming to assist students with veteran status.

However, Watters said he believed existing federal law protecting veterans from educational, professional and housing discrimination were adequate, in addition to existing state law giving preferential treatment to veterans seeking employment.

“This law is more of a restatement of our values to commit to protecting veterans,” he said. “We’re not trying to legislate the merits of (Webster’s) case. That’s for the courts to decide.”

According to the suit, Webster began working at UNH as an adjunct professor in the English department before being promoted to a lecturer of English between the fall of 2009 and spring of 2018.

Webster said he served in the U.S. Army from 1987 to 1992 as an Army journalist and was deployed to Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. He also served in the Army Reserve and N.H. National Guard from 1992 to 1999.

The English department is part of UNH’s College of Liberal Arts, and according to the suit, Webster learned in November 2017 several COLA lecturers whose contracts were expiring in 2018 would not have them renewed, pending a review by then-COLA Dean Heidi Bostic.

In January 2018, Webster was informed his contract would not be renewed by Bostic, according to the suit. In appealing to her to renew his contract, Webster cited his “diversity and wealth of experience” being brought to his writing classes as a veteran.

The suit states Bostic then asked Webster, “rhetorically to the effect of, ‘do you (actually) think you are entitled (as a veteran) to a job?’” Douglass previously said she added the parenthetical subtext to portions of Webster’s complaint because of Bostic’s alleged “timing and tone” based on his recounting of their conversation.

The suit further alleges Bostic threatened the English department chair for using Webster’s veteran status to advocate for maintaining his position. Upon learning this, Webster filed a union grievance asserting his veteran status influenced Bostic’s decision not to retain him, according to the suit. It states, Webster also filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor, which he later withdrew.

Webster also alleges he was denied a senior program assistant position at the UNH Writing Center in August 2018 after he was again asked about his veteran status. Webster claims he was asked during an interview how his military service would “fit” into the culture of the writing center.

The suit claims UNH’s Equity Office found the comment about Webster’s military service was “improper” and recommended the Writing Center undergo training to correct an “anti-military bias.” However, the office ruled bias did not impact the Writing Center’s decision not to hire Webster.

A pre-trial discovery plan filed Dec. 18, 2019, sets Oct. 26 as a deadline to complete all discovery but not before giving UNH a deadline of April 6 to file a motion to dismiss. The discovery plan sets a tentative date of March 16, 2021, for a two-week jury trial to begin.