UI professor files lawsuit against U of I Board of Trustees |

URBANA, Ill. (WAND) - A former University of Illinois professor said he is suing the university's board of trustees for a breach of contract.

According to the law office that represents Professor Joseph Petry, the university said they would discontinue an investigation into any allegations brought against him. The law office said within days of Petry leaving the university they tried to renegotiate the agreement.

"The University's investigation continued for almost a full year before finally concluding that the initial allegations against Professor Petry were not credible, and there had been no violation of the University's Sexual Harassment Policy. Nonetheless, the University s breach gave credibility to false and salacious allegations which, along with statements from the University, severely damaged Professor Petry's reputation and economic prospects," law office stated.

The law office said the investigation was based on false claims by a former student that she had been sexually harassed by him. However, the law office said the student has a criminal past that made her not trustworthy with her story. Despite multiple problems with the claims from the student the university continued their investigation.

"In fact, the University noted evidence that Naqvis allegations were rooted in a failed attempt to blackmail Professor Petry into changing her grade. One witness - was quoted as having said that Naqvi was lying to build a story that Dr. Petry was harassing her in order to blackmail him into giving her money and changing her grade, and that, when Dr. Petry refused to do so, Naqvi wanted to destroy his reputation to get revenge," a release from the office claimed.

Petry believes he was the target of blackmail by the student and was double crossed by the university.

"It pains me to sue my Alma Matter, an institution with which I've been associated as a faculty member for 18 years. I am far from a perfect individual, but this does not justify the university's utter disregard for its contractual obligations, and the 'guilty until proven innocent' approach taken against me," Petry said.

To read the full statement from the law office see the attachment below.