Virginia Employment Law, representing former Hollins University Vice President Steven Laymon, has filed a $5 million lawsuit alleging he was wrongfully terminated in retaliation for supporting Jewish students who reported antisemitic harassment on campus following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.

A practicing Jew and faculty adviser to the Jewish Student Association, Laymon organized a campus moment of silence featuring Hebrew prayers and later raised concerns with Hollins’ president about Jewish students feeling targeted. The complaint asserts that after these protected religious activities, Laymon’s relationship with the administration deteriorated, culminating in his termination on January 31, 2024.

Filed under the Virginia Human Rights Act, the suit claims Hollins’ stated performance-based reasons for the firing were pretext for religious discrimination. Laymon seeks reinstatement, lost wages, and damages, with the case standing as part of Virginia Employment Law’s broader effort to ensure that religious freedom and workplace protections are upheld in both academic and professional settings.

An article on the case may be read HERE.