IUN sued over allegations of racism, wrongful termination, violating freedom of speech

The Indiana University Northwest campus in Gary.

GARY — Indiana University Northwest is facing a lawsuit over firing Mark McPhail, a tenured communications professor.

McPhail is suing IUN, the university's board of trustees, Chancellor Ken Iwama and two other administrators in federal court. He says the university violated his freedom-of-speech rights, discriminated against him on the basis of race and illegally fired him.

In the lawsuit, McPhail says that because he held a forum in which he argued IUN's campus climate contributed to racial disparities and criticized university administration for alleged lack of adherence to university policies, he was banned from teaching and his salary was reduced by 70%. When he appealed, he claims to have been fired abruptly and without a hearing.

McPhail, who is Black, says his race was "a motivating factor" and the university administration "relied on stereotypes of Black men as irrationally angry and violent."

The lawsuit says this is in violation of his First Amendment right to free speech, the due-process clause of the 14th Amendment, his employment contract, Indiana University policy and the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

The forum, "Diversity: An unfulfilled promise at IU Northwest," in April 2018 was aimed at highlighting challenges faced by Black students at IUN and identifying ways in which IUN failed to support those students, according to court documents.

Additionally, McPhail complained in August 2018 to university administration about the hiring of David Klamen — now the dean of the School of Arts and one of the defendants in the case — because he believed the hiring process was not transparent and was in violation of university policy, which mandates hiring decisions be "based upon (applicants’) individual qualifications."

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After these two incidents, McPhail was sent to Indiana University Bloomington, the system's flagship campus, for a two-year assignment, according to the court documents. After McPhail's return to the Gary campus, he reportedly had a performance review with Klamen in July 2021. During that review, his teaching was characterized as "inadequate" due to his "reputation as a teacher" and "the contention that McPhail issued failing grades to too many students."

McPhail refuted both of these, casting doubt on the unspecified reports administrators used to determine his reputation and claiming that the failing students didn't complete required coursework. Klamen reportedly called this an "attempt to shift blame to students for your own professional shortcomings."

After the performance review and McPhail's response to it, Klamen recommended suspending the professor from teaching the fall semester and have his salary reduced by 75%, according to court documents. McPhail says this decision was made in retaliation for his complaints about racial discrimination on IUN's campus and his complaints about Klamen's appointment.

On Sept. 14, 2021, one day after he appealed his suspension, McPhail was terminated.

In McPhail's termination letter, Vicki Román-Lagunas — executive vice chancellor and the final defendant in the case — reportedly told him he was fired because he said "words to the effect that 'the only way to end racism is to kill all the white people'," according to court documents. McPhail denies saying this and denies threatening to kill anybody.

In a response filed to the court, the defendants denied that McPhail's firing was connected to the April 2018 forum or to his complaints about Klamen's hiring. They also said McPhail "selectively quoted" Klamen's performance review in his lawsuit and they stand by the fact that he gave out failing grades to too many students, "an alarming number of which were students of color." Furthermore, they denied violating McPhail's employment contract or IUN policy, and allegations of racism.

McPhail is seeking a jury trial. He hopes to receive reinstatement to his job as well as monetary damages.

The American Association of University Professors has joined the fight, siding with McPhail. The AAUP's governing council voted Saturday to censure the university over the dismissal. This comes about a month after AAUP released an investigative report on the incident.

The investigating committee deemed the charge that McPhail had made violent threats "implausible" and found McPhail's allegation that the administration's actions were prompted by his criticism of the administration's handling of racial equity issues "highly credible." They called this a violation of his academic freedom and said IUN's "racial climate is unwelcoming to faculty members of color."

In response to The Times' request for comment, IUN officials provided the following statement via email: "We disagree with the AAUP report and, because this involves ongoing litigation, we cannot comment further at this time."

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