(The Center Square) – A former University of Illinois Chicago professor is suing his former employer alleging the university fired him after he objected to what he describes as its racially discriminatory hiring practices.
The Liberty Justice Center filed the lawsuit Monday on behalf of Stephen Kleinschmit, who was a clinical associate professor in the university’s Department of Public Policy, Management, and Analytics.
“During his time at UIC, he became concerned about the university’s fixation on race when interviewing and hiring faculty – and quickly realized that multiple university programs were illegal under federal law because they regularly used race as a primary or even exclusive factor in hiring decisions,” Liberty Justice Center said in a news release.
After bringing his concerns forward, the university terminated his contract in August 2023, the lawsuit says.
“The Liberty Justice Center’s lawsuit alleges that UIC retaliated against Professor Kleinschmit for criticizing its illegal acts of discrimination against its employees and potential applicants – in blatant violation of the right to equal protection under the law,” the news release states. “The lawsuit also alleges that university administrators purposely withheld notification of his contract nonrenewal until the academic hiring cycle was concluding, leaving him unemployed for an entire year.”
Kleinschmit is seeking financial compensation for the earnings and benefits he lost and he also is seeking the end to what he says are the university’s discriminatory hiring and retention practices.
“The University of Illinois Chicago repeatedly engaged in blatant acts of racial discrimination, then added illegal retaliation to the mix to avoid accountability for its unlawful behavior,” Reilly Stephens, senior counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, said in a statement. “These actions are unacceptable violations of the right to equal protection under the law, and we urge the court to put a stop to it immediately.”
