A research professor is suing the George Washington University for $8 million after officials allegedly wrongfully removed him as chair of the department of biochemistry and molecular medicine. Rakesh Kumar, who was under investigation for research misconduct, claims his removal as chair was in violation of processes laid out in the faculty code, according to a complaint filed in D.C. Superior Court on Jan. 23, the GW Hatchet, an independent student newspaper, reported.
Kumar alleges that the investigation prevented him from obtaining a new job outside of the university. As a tenured professor, Kumar said in the complaint that had certain rights listed in the faculty code that should have prevented him from being removed as chair on July 23. He is suing the university for allegedly breaching his contract and putting him in a “false light” after invading his privacy. Aside from the $8 million in damages, he also wants the university to pay for his legal fees, the Hatchet reported.
Because of the investigation, Kumar further claimed that he lost more than $2 billion in grants, which prevented him from being hired by a “highly prestigious local institution.” He also alleges that because the University Police Department escorted him out of Ross Hall during a departmental meeting, he suffered mental distress and has not been able to continue working on his cancer research.
“Dr. Kumar’s removal by GW Security was very public and humiliating and has irreparably damaged Dr. Kumar’s reputation,” the documents said.
After Kumar was put on administrative leave last May, he was no longer allowed to advise his students who were working toward their Ph.D.s and was replaced by another professor. Kumar had advised one student on her work since 2011, and he claims that losing his role as an adviser was “humiliating, painful and damaging” to his reputation.
The university began investigating Kumar’s laboratory after he was accused of research misconduct in 2012. During the investigation, confidential information about Kumar’s research was leaked on RetractionWatch.com, a website that tracks mistakes in academic research. Kumar has issued six corrections and one retraction for his molecular cancer research, the website said, adding that Kumar had retracted a paper in the Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC) that was recently questioned on PubPeer.
University spokeswoman Candace Smith told the Hatchet that the university does not comment on pending litigation. “A complaint reflects only one side of a dispute, and now that this dispute has been taken to a court, GW will respond in that forum,” she said.