CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago State University has been ordered by a Cook County judge to pay $4.3 million to a school official who was fired after accusing the school’s former president of misconduct.
That’s about $1 million more than a jury awarded in 2014 to attorney James Crowley because the university has delayed paying damages in a whistleblower lawsuit. The jury in 2014 found Crowley was fired for turning over former university president Wayne Watson’s employment records to a faculty member under the state’s open records law, and for exposing questionable university contracts.
Crowley said Tuesday he hopes a newly appointed university board of trustees brings the case to a close rather than spend more money contesting the case.
In a statement, Chicago State spokeswoman Sabrina Land maintained the judgment was “an unusual and high verdict in an employment case.”
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
