A jury awarded an SIUC professor more than $270,000 in back pay and compensatory damages Tuesday in a retaliatory discharge suit, and the professor’s attorney says a federal judge could award a larger settlement.

Ike Mathur, a professor of finance, filed the retaliatory discharge suit against the University after he was terminated from the position of chairman of the Finance Department by Thomas Keon, former dean of the College of Business.

The suit alleges that Mathur was fired from his position as chairman of the Finance Department on April 4, 1995, because of a racial discrimination suit he was preparing to file against SIUC later that month.

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Mathur, who has been a professor at SIUC since 1981, was chairman of the Finance Department for 14 years before serving as interim dean of the College of Business and Administration from 1992 until Jan. 1, 1995.

In 1992, Mathur applied for the permanent position as dean of the COBA, but was not chosen. No candidates were chosen from the initial search to replace Thomas Gutteridge, who left to take a position at the University of Connecticut. Instead, Mathur remained as interim dean.

Mathur was considered for the position of dean but did not have sufficient support of the faculty in the college, Shari Rhode, chief legal counsel for the University, said.

Mathur said he was not chosen for the position because of his East Indian ethnic background.

Mathur filed a complaint with Equal Opportunity Employment Commission seeking permission to file suit against the University for racial discrimination upon the start of the second dean search, said Mathur’s attorney, Marilyn Longwell.

The second search resulted in the appointment of Thomas Keon to the position of dean of COBA. Keon assumed the duties as dean on Jan. 1, 1995, at which point Mathur returned to the position as chairman of the Finance Department.

Mathur received notice granting permission to file suit against the University from EOEC in January 1995.

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Keon asked Mathur to step down from position of chairman of Finance on April 4, 1995.

I felt that I had been fired because of the (racial discrimination) lawsuit I was preparing against the University, Mathur said.

Rhode said there were a number of reasons why Mathur was terminated from the position.

Mathur was terminated from the position of chairman of the Finance Department because, in Dean Keon’s opinion, Mathur was not a team player, Rhode said. Also, at this time in August of 1995, every chairman within the College of Business was changed.

The discrimination case was dismissed by the judge on a summary judgment by the University about a year ago, Longwell said. A summary judgment is when the plaintiff does not develop a strong enough case for a defense to be presented.

Mathur said he told Keon of the discrimination suit three months before it was filed, and he said that is why Keon asked him to step down from his position as chairman of the Finance Department.

Keon contended that he was unaware of the suit until the summer of 1995, months after the suit was filed, Longwell said.

Rhode said Keon does not remember when he learned of the discrimination suit.

Keon resigned from the position as dean of COBA in April 1997 and accepted a position as dean of the College of Business at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. The acting dean of COBA is Siva Balasubramanian.

The case up for trial Monday at the federal courthouse in Benton was the retaliatory discharge case against the University. On Tuesday, the jury ruled in favor of Mathur.

In this type of case, the jury can award back pay and compensatory damages, for those elusive things like humiliation, pain and suffering, Longwell said. The jury cannot, however, grant reinstatement or compensation for future lost pay or front pay.

The decision of front pay will be decided by U.S. District Judge James Foreman, chief judge of the Southern District of Illinois, Longwell said.

The final judgment has not been entered yet, Rhode said. There is still a motion before the judge and a decision should be made later this month.

Mathur sued for $20,283 in back pay for lost wages prior to the trial date and did not sue for any specified amount in compensatory damages.

The jury awarded Mathur $20,283 in back pay and $250,000 in compensatory damages.

Mathur testified that his losses on retirement benefits would amount to $246,000 and his front pay to the point at which he would plan to retire amounted to $465,000, Longwell said.

Rhode would not release information regarding where the money to pay the damages was coming from, saying that it was not relevant information.

Mathur said the jury’s decision was very important.

I feel really good about winning the lawsuit because there was a principle involved, Mathur said. People should not be removed from a position for stating their opinion, and I felt that was the case with me.