A University of Kentucky law professor who claims he was pulled from teaching and barred from his law school building after posting a petition calling for "military action" against Israel is suing the university, alleging First Amendment retaliation and other constitutional violations.Ramsi Woodcock, a tenured law professor at the J. David Rosenberg College of Law, filed a federal lawsuit on Nov.13, claiming administrators punished him for political speech made outside the classroom, including a 2024 "Petition for Military Action Against Israel" he posted online."We demand that every country in the world make war on Israel immediately and until such time as Israel has submitted permanently and unconditionally to the government of Palestine everywhere from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea," the petition on his website called the "Antizionist Legal Studies Movement" reads. On his website, Woodcock argues that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians and does not have a right to exist. He has called for the international community to bring an "end" to Israel.According to the complaint, Woodcock had expressed similar views since early 2024 "with no issue," sharing them at faculty research seminars, conferences, law school meetings, online discussions, and his blog. He says that changed after Kentucky passed Joint Resolution 55 in April 2025, directing public universities to combat antisemitism, utilizing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition.ANTISEMITIC ‘VENOM’ INFECTING CAMPUSES GETS WORSE AS UNIVERSITIES PLAY ‘ROPE-A-DOPE’ WITH TRUMP ADMIN: EXPERTHe alleges the university subsequently adopted a policy in July, requiring its equal-opportunity office to apply the IHRA definition, which the Board of Trustees formally approved that September.Woodcock claims that the university's "tolerance" of his speech ended in the summer 2025, "after federal government threats to withdraw funding from universities, federal enforcement of the IHRA definition, and passage of Joint Resolution 55 enabled and pressured administrators to suppress speech critical of Israel and Zionism."On July 18, University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto issued a public statement calling Woodcock’s rhetoric "repugnant" and not reflective of the university's views. That same day, the lawsuit says, the university administratively reassigned Woodcock to "100% professional development," canceled his classes, barred him from the law building, and hired outside counsel for an investigation. This followed a July 9 meeting at which a vice provost told Woodcock they had received reports he had spoken about genocide at conferences and questioned a link to his personal website on his College of Law profile page.The lawsuit argues the IHRA definition "characterizes broad categories of constitutionally-protected speech critical of Israel as antisemitic." It brings First Amendment retaliation and due-process violation, race discrimination and an Administrative Procedure Act claim that seeks to bar the U.S. Department of Education from using or requiring the IHRA definition in its Title VI enforcement.‘DR ANTIFA’ RUTGERS PROFESSOR ANNOUNCES MOVE TO EUROPE AFTER TPUSA PETITION CALLS FOR HIS FIRINGWoodcock is asking the court to declare Kentucky’s measure unconstitutional, prohibit the university from relying on the IHRA definition in disciplinary matters, halt the ongoing investigation, restore his teaching and campus access, and award compensatory and punitive damages plus attorneys’ fees.The lawsuit names as defendants University President Eli Capilouto, Provost Robert DiPaola, General Counsel William Thro, Law Dean James Duff, and Education Secretary Linda McMahon in her official capacity.University of Kentucky spokesperson Jay Blanton told Fox News Digital that Professor Woodcock wasn’t suspended or fired but "reassigned pending the outcome of an investigation," calling that step "entirely appropriate and consistent with institutional norms and past practices."He pointed to President Capilouto’s July 18 statement and said that while faculty have free speech rights, the university must act under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act if speech threatens staff and students’ safety and well-being.ETHICS PROFESSOR SUES UNIVERSITY, SAYS HE WAS FIRED OVER CRITICISM OF GENDER POLICIESBlanton said its academic freedom policy is consistent with the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and protects speech within a professor’s area of expertise but does not extend to creating a "hostile environment," which is what it tasked outside counsel to review. He added that the university also has the right to express its own values and will limit further comment while the investigation proceeds.In a statement, Woodcock told Fox News Digital, "Israel is a colonization project that practices apartheid and is currently exterminating two million Palestinians in Gaza. The scandal is not that I am calling for immediate military action to end Israel but that the university is willing to violate our nation's Constitution in order to preserve Israel. Every American has a First Amendment right to oppose Israel and I look forward to holding the university accountable for breaking the law."The U.S. Department of Education did not return Fox News Digital's request for comment.