Former Chapman law school dean sues with claim he was fired for being gay

Collage by Trinity Johnson, Photographer

Chapman’s first openly gay law school dean has sued the university, alleging his termination was due to his sexual orientation and that the school used scholarship budget concerns as a pretext.

Paul Paton led the Dale E. Fowler School of Law from May 2023 until his removal in October 2025. He filed a seven-count complaint on June 1 in the Orange County Superior Court. 

His termination came just months after Chapman’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) office was renamed and reorganized following Provost Norma Bouchard and Vice President of DEI Reg Stewart being placed on a leave of absence from their positions. 

Paton alleges breach of written contract, sexual orientation discrimination and retaliation under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, failure to conduct a reasonable investigation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, failure to pay wages and seeks an accounting of the university’s finances.

“Those that had influence over Chapman simply decided that this was their opportunity to act and to revert to a pre-DEI Chapman,” Jason Kirby, Paton’s lawyer, wrote in a press release in June. “In one fell swoop, those in control removed both the academic Provost (who hired Paton) and DEI leadership simultaneously.”

Paton, who continues to teach in Fowler, did not respond to requests for comment.

Chapman’s director of strategic communication, Bob Hitchcock, said the university did not discriminate against Paton.

“Chapman University intends to vigorously defend this lawsuit, which is meritless,” Hitchcock said. “The university’s decision to remove Mr. Paton as dean was based solely on its assessment that effective financial oversight by a new dean was required. Mr. Paton remains an active and valued member of the law school faculty.”

Paton was hired following a national and international search and began serving as dean in June 2023, while also joining as a tenured professor. According to his complaint, the law school generated an approximately $2 million budget surplus during the 2023-24 academic year and enrolled what he described as its strongest incoming class to date.

He alleges that his relationship with university leadership changed after he married his husband, Michael James, in October 2024. Several Chapman officials and trustees attended the wedding, according to the complaint. Paton contends that, shortly afterward, he began experiencing hostility from leadership. 

The complaint also asserts that Chapman began treating James differently from the spouses of other senior university officials. Paton says his husband was excluded from certain university events and, in one instance, was required to purchase a ticket to attend an event where spouses had previously been included. He reported what he viewed as harassment and discrimination to the university, but alleges that Chapman failed to meaningfully investigate his concerns.

According to the complaint, the university also received complaints about Paton during this period. One anonymous complaint accused him of using university resources for personal travel. Chapman investigated the allegation but, according to Paton, found insufficient evidence to support it. Paton contrasts that investigation with what he says was the university’s failure to investigate his own harassment complaints.

The tensions continued into 2025 as Chapman began dismantling and reorganizing its DEI programs. Paton alleges that his association with the university’s DEI efforts and his support for diversity initiatives at Fowler contributed to the decision to remove him.

Despite those tensions, he continued to receive positive feedback about his work. According to the complaint, in June 2025, Michael Ibba, who was serving as interim Provost at the time, approved a $10,197 salary increase for Paton, citing his contributions, high standards and commitment to Chapman’s mission.

On Oct. 1, 2025, Chapman removed Paton as dean. According to the complaint, Ibba told Paton that the decision was based on Fowler law school awarding scholarships “well in excess of budget” without sufficient consultation with senior leadership.

Paton disputes that explanation. He alleges that he was never questioned about the scholarships or given an opportunity to respond, and that the university used the scholarship spending as a pretext for his removal. After losing the deanship, Paton retained his tenured faculty position at Fowler but lost his administrative stipend and named chair.

Paton’s complaint also draws a comparison between his treatment and that of former Fowler Dean John Eastman.

Eastman, who served as a professor and held leadership from 2007 to 2010, has caused campus uproar on more than one occasion. A strong opponent of same-sex marriage, he headed the Constitutional Jurisprudence Rights Clinic, which represented the National Organization for Marriage in a California case challenging marriage equality.

Eastman retired from Chapman in 2021 in an agreement with the university following controversy over his role after efforts to challenge the 2020 presidential election results. More than 160 Chapman faculty members had called for the university to take action against him. He was later disbarred by the California Supreme Court in April 2026 for his role in these efforts.

“Chapman has to date extended better treatment to Eastman than to Paton,” the complaint reads.

Chapman maintains that Paton’s removal was based solely on concerns about the law school’s financial oversight and says it intends to vigorously defend the lawsuit. The case will move forward, with both sides continuing a monthslong legal fight.