James Tracy, Prof Who Called Sandy Hook a Hoax, Terminated by Florida Atlantic
ByJames Tracy, the professor at Florida Atlantic University who claimed the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax, is now officially terminated.
The school issued Tracy a Notice of Proposed Termination last month after the parents of a child slain at Sandy Hook Elementary complained for being harassed by the professor. FAU provided an update on Tuesday, stating Tracy's termination was finalized and that his last day will be Friday.
According to The Sun Sentinel, the United Faculty of Florida will help Tracy fight the termination, though outside the school's appeals process. UFF President Robert Zoeller told the newspaper the case is not as simple as it seems, but could not provide any details.
"There's a lot of stuff people aren't aware of that I can't speak to right now," he said. "If I did, it would violate Dr. Tracy's rights."
Tracy also declined comment on his case, as did his lawyer, Tom Johnson.
The Huffington Post reported obtaining a copy of Tracy's termination notice, which included a violation for not submitting paperwork for employment outside the school. Tracy reportedly acknowledged he violated rules for all FAU faculty members and argued he should not have had to file the paperwork.
He also used FAU's facilities for the outside work, his personal blog on which he shared his theories about the Sandy Hook massacre. In one instance, he sent a certified letter to the parents of one of the victims, Lenny and Veronique Pozner.
The Pozners wrote an op-ed for The Sun-Sentinel detailing Tracy's letter, in which he called them "alleged parents" to Noah and demanded they provide proof of parentage after they requested his photo not be used on websites supporting conspiracy theories.
Tracy argued he did not profit monetarily for his blog, but FAU vice provost Diane Alperin said the paperwork he did not file applies to unpaid endeavors as well, The Sun Sentinel reported.
"You publicly engage in external personal activity that requires your time and effort," she wrote in a letter to Tracy. "It is for the administration to decide, with your input, if a conflict exists, and how to manage a conflict where necessary. You have repeatedly and willfully failed to provide the administration the information it needs to discharge its responsibilities."