IU Northwest sued over allegations of racism, free speech violations

A Black tenured professor at Indiana University Northwest is suing the school over allegations of discrimination on the basis of race, freedom-of-speech rights violations, and illegal firing. Our partners at The Times of Northwest Indiana report Mark McPhail is suing IUN, the board of trustees, Chancellor Ken Iwama, and two other administrators in federal court.

In the lawsuit, McPhail says that because he held a forum in 2018 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%.

Additionally, the publication reports McPhail complained in 2018 about the hiring of David Klamen, who is now the dean of the School of Arts at IUN. McPhail claimed the hiring process was not transparent in violation of university policy. Klamen is one of the other administrators named in the suit.

The Times report says McPhail was assigned to IU Bloomington for a two-year assignment. After returning to the Gary campus, McPhail returned to his job. But a subsequent performance evaluation, conducted by Klamen, gave him poor marks when his teaching was characterized as “inadequate.”  

The paper says IUN intended to suspend McPhail due to the negative employee evaluation, in which McPhail said was retaliatory.

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

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.

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

Click here to access the full report from William Skipworth and The Times of Northwest Indiana.