URBANA, Ill. (WAND) - A former professor accused of sexual harassment is suiting the University of Illinois for breach-of-contract to the tune of $7.9 million.
The lawsuit accuses the UI Board of Trustees of violating the terms of the resignation agreement signed in April 2019, the News Gazette reports.
As part of Jospeh Petry's resignation, the UI Office of Access and Equity would discontinue its investigation into all allegations made against him, the law firm representing him said.
The law firm said the university then tried to renegotiate the agreement to allow the investigation to continue.
They said when Petry did not agree to the change, the university "ignored its legal obligation and continued the investigation anyway.”
UI spokeswoman Robin Kaler told the News Gazette she had no knowledge of Petry's lawsuit.
A former student accused Petry of sexually harassing her. Petry has denied these claims.
In his lawsuit, Petry claims the student was trying to blackmail him into changing her grade.
The university ultimately determined the student's accusations were not credible. However, the UI expanded the investigation to consider whether Petry had violated a separate policy, its Code of Conduct, and concluded he had violated that code.
The lawsuit states the continued investigation led to multiple news stories about Petry being published and aired on television and social media.
“Professor Petry seeks to recover damages he has incurred as a direct result of the university’s breach, including damages for loss of employment opportunities, reputational harm and mental distress,” the lawsuit states.
The News Gazette reports Petry has had no luck finding employment for either academic positions or jobs in the private sector with most employers "not even responding to the applications."
Petry is seeking $5.2 million in lost wage claims based on what he anticipated earning from age 56 in 2019 to age 75 in 2038.
He is also seeking $537,046 for the loss of an annual tax deduction for each year he would have been employed at the UI, $103,000 in attorney fees and $2 million for mental distress.
