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The University of Idaho has settled a case of wrongful dismissal of an Indian-American professor, but he says full justice remains to be done.
Sanjay Gupta, former assistant professor of plant science at the University of Idaho, recently settled with the university for $400,000, years after he said he was wrongfully dismissed for alleged sexual harassment of a lab employee. The University also reinstated him to his original tenure track position, Gupta told News India Times. But he and his wife were so negatively affected by what transpired that they prefer to remain at the University of Minnesota even if it is not at the same level as in Idaho, he said. Nick Gier, professor emeritus at University of Idaho, and president of the Idaho Federation of Teachers, told News India Times the reinstatement was a mere procedural offer. Gier has worked closely with Gupta on the case through the years.
Mediation with the University of Idaho came about after a district judge ruled in favor of Gupta who had denied the harassment allegations all along. The judge found that Idaho denied Gupta due process and engaged in a breach of contract in not considering a faculty appeal board’s decision also in the professor’s favor.
A university spokesperson acknowledged the settlement but did not comment further, insidehighered.com reported.
Gupta, who joined the University of Idaho in 2008, hired lab assistant Priyanka Gajjar in 2011. He was fired in 2012 after Gajjar filed a sexual harassment complaint. The faculty board decided in Gupta’s favor. Gupta contended at that time and in the interview with News India Times that Gajjar was aware he was not satisfied with her work and was going to fire her.
The university, after a formal investigation found Gupta had sexually harassed and threatened her, and fired him.
Nick Gier, a professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Idaho and president of the Idaho Federation of Teachers, told News India Times the settlement was not just, and that the University had refused to clear Gupta’s name. Gier worked closely with Gupta and his wife Archana who, he said has suffered extreme emotional distress, for which also, there has not been adequate compensation.
“It’s been a long ordeal for Sanjay and Archana. And No, it is not a just settlement,” Gier said. “For four years they suffered extreme emotional distress, and we weren’t able to get sufficient compensation for that. We were faced with two choices – either accept the $400,000, or go to trial. And Archana could not have taken that,” he said.
The Federation of Teachers at all three levels, national, state and local, supported Sanjay Gupta through the case, and gave $21,000 to meet some of his legal expenses, Gier told News India Times. He continues to work with the Indian-American professor to help him get back to his previous professional level. The Guptas still have a home in Twin Fall, Idaho, which a close friend managed for them when they moved to Minnesota, where he is a grant writer at the University of Minnesota.
“My wife’s happiness is everything to me,” Sanjay Gupta said about his wife Archana who is an expert in Ayurvedic medicine. For now, he says he is getting research grants and is a successful grant writer. “I’m still looking for a tenure-track position, but it will not be easy,” he said.
The post University Settles Case Of Wrongful Dismissal, Professor Says Justice Not Done appeared first on News India Times.
