The University of Kentucky has settled a lawsuit filed by a former public health dentist who said he was fired from the school for publicly criticizing Republican Gov. Matt Bevin's plan to overhaul the state's Medicaid program.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the settlement calls for longtime professor Raynor Mullins to get $620,000 and to be able to return to the university. School officials did not admit that College of Dentistry Dean Stephanos Kyrkanides shut out Mullins from his work.
A joint statement issued with the settlement says both parties desire to resolve their differences in a positive manner and move together a shared goal of improving health in Kentucky.
U.S. District Judge Robert Weir ruled in October that a jury should decide whether Mullins' constitutional right to free speech had been violated.