Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1980 [PAGE 91]

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1978]

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

81

O n motion of M r . Forsyth, authority was given as recommended by die following vote: Aye, M r . Forsyth, M r . H a h n , Mr. Howard, Mr. Lenz, M r . Livingston, M r . Neal, Mrs. Rader, Mrs. Shepherd, Mr. Velasquez; no, n o n e ; absent, Governor Thompson. Complaint Issued by Illinois Fair Employment Practices Commission (Clayton Gray, Jr., Complainant), Urbana (39) T h e Illinois Fair Employment Practices Commission has issued a complaint against the University (Charge No. 1978TN0028) in connection with a charge of racial discrimination made by Clayton Gray. Jr., a former assistant professor in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures at the Urbana-Champaign campus. I t is charged that the University denied Gray tenure and promotion because of his race and retaliation for his "opposition to practices forbidden by said (Fair Employment Practices) Act." The commission is seeking an order requiring the University to reinstate the complainant and grant him tenure and promotion to the position of associate professor at a rate of pay comparab'e to what he would be receiving but for the alleged unfair employment practices. In addition, the order sought would require the University to pay a sum equal to his loss of wages, to restore all benefits and seniority status, to clear its personnel records of all references to the termination as well as the riling of the charges and the disposition thereof, and to cease and desist from discriminating on the basis of race in the application of terms and conditions of employment. Pursuant to previous delegations by the Board of Trustees, the university counsel has been given interim authorization to take such steps as are necessary or appropriate, including the employment of special counsel, to protect the interests of the University in this matter. The university counsel has recommended that such authorization be ratified, approved and confirmed in all respects. I concur. T h e student advisory vote was: Aye, Miss Kooper, M r . Sobotka, M r . Watson; no, none. O n motion of M r . Forsyth, authority was given as recommended by the following vote: Aye, Mr. Forsyth, M r . H a h n , M r . Howard, M r . Lenz, Mr. Livingston, Mr. Neal, Mrs. Rader, Mrs. Shepherd, Mr. Velasquez; no, n o n e ; absent, Governor Thompson. Litigation Initiated by James N. McElearney (40) A complaint has been filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Case No. 78C 3184) by James N. McElearney, a former assistant professor of chemistry at the Chicago Circle campus. In addition to the University, the defendants include President Corbally and Chancellor Riddle. The complaint asserts that jurisdiction of the court is invoked to redress deprivation by the defendants of plaintiff's civil and constitutional rights under the constitution and laws of the United States. T h e relief sought includes: (1) damages in the amount of $14,000 plus costs in compensation for pain, suffering, and mental stress caused by the conduct of the defendants; (2) exemplary damages in the amount of $40,000; and (3) an injunction requiring reemployment of the plaintiff at the position of tenured assistant professor of chemistry. The complaint alleges that the head of the Department of Chemistry made misrepresentations concerning the plaintiff's probationary and tenure status, that the University did not follow its own procedural and substantive rules in connec-