Patricia Fecile-Moreland and Michael Joyce of MOODK’s Philadelphia office obtained early dismissal of a tortious interference claim in Federal Court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. MOODK’s client was a Philadelphia Foundation dedicated to serving and protecting the local Jewish community in the Greater Philadelphia area. The Foundation became aware of a local university professor who had been posting what the Foundation saw as antisemitic content on the professor’s social media page. The Foundation wrote a letter to the university’s president where the professor taught in order to inform the university of what the professor was posting and raise concerns about what the Foundation believed was antisemitic content not in line with the university’s values. The Foundation however did not call for the professor to be fired and merely requested that the university take any action it saw appropriate. Months after the Foundation sent its letter, the professor was ultimately fired by the university after similar concerns were raised by other groups. The professor brought a lawsuit against the university for discrimination, some of the other groups for defamation, and against the Foundation for tortious interference with contract in federal court. MOODK’s attorneys moved to dismiss the professor’s claims as barred by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution arguing that their client had the right to free speech under the First Amendment to raise what it saw as an issue of public concern with the university. Following briefing by the parties on the issue, the Court agreed and dismissed the claims against MOODK’s client as being barred by the First Amendment while allowing other claims against the university and other defendants to proceed.