UPDATE: (8/1/17) NIU spokesman Joe King confirms Dr. Baker was paid in full as of July 15, 2017.
PREVIOUS: The case of whether the Northern Illinois University Board of Trustees violated the Open Meetings Act continues with a hearing the first week of August. A motion filed Thursday requests a temporary restraining order to prevent former NIU president Doug Baker from getting his severance pay.
The filing comes after DeKalb resident Misty Haji-Sheikh sued the NIU Board of Trustees for allegedly violating the Open Meetings Act while creating the terms of Baker’s severance.
She alleges the board did not give the public enough notice or opportunity for input on the matter during the June meeting.
Haji-Sheikh’s lawyer, Charles Philbrick, says the idea is to get into court relatively quickly and delay the university issuing Baker’s pay – and, he says, maintain the status quo.
“That severance agreement, as far as we know, has not been executed, nor has the university made any payments with regard to it,” Philbrick said.
Philbrick says the university has two options in response to the case.
“The university could either contend that it complied with the Act and fight with us whether that’s the case or not, or it could simply schedule another meeting and cure the issues that have been raised,” Philbrick said.
As a matter of policy, the university does not comment on pending litigation.
The hearing that could determine whether or not the severance payment would be delayed is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday at the DeKalb County Courthouse.
- WNIJ's Jenna Dooley contributed to this report.
