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By CHRISTOPHER SMITH GONZALEZ | Posted: Saturday, December 13, 2014 12:40 am

TEXAS CITY — College of the Mainland trustees approved settling a lawsuit brought by a former tenured professor, but did not reveal many details about the agreement.

Trustees at a meeting Friday unanimously agreed to settle with David Michael Smith.

Smith filed the lawsuit in federal district court against the college, its president, Beth Lewis, and its former vice president of instruction.

The lawsuit sought about $2 million in damages and attorney fees.

The settlement agreement still must be executed and finalized.

“I feel like it is in the best interest of the college to settle and move on,” Board President Roney McCrary said.

McCrary said terms of the agreement would remain confidential except that Smith would not be getting his job back as part of the settlement.

Smith would not comment.

Lewis recommended that Smith’s employment be terminated for insubordination and disrespectful treatment of other employees.

Smith was fired in August of 2013.

In the lawsuit Smith argued his termination was in “retaliation of his exercising and fighting to protect his and others’ First Amendment rights.”

Smith had butted heads with the college administration repeatedly in his 15 years at the college. He had filed two previous First Amendment lawsuits — the college settled the most recent in 2013 for $36,000.

The college requested a summary judgment but U.S. District Court Judge Gregg Costa ruled there was sufficient evidence to allow a jury to decide.

Smith was seeking about $700,000 in lost salary and $175,000 to $250,00 for lost benefits.

The lawsuit also sought $750,000 in compensatory damages for “stress, depression, anger, worry (and) emotional loss,” and as much as $350,000 in attorneys’ fees, bringing the total of damages and fees to about $2 million.