The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois claims Rangaswamy Meganathan, who is of Indian national origin, was denied salary increases in-line with similarly situated non-Indian faculty members.
Court documents allege NIU "willfully and deliberately" subjected Meganathan to discrimination on the basis of his race and national origin since he was hired in 1983.
The lawsuit outlines the starting salaries and off-cycle salary adjustments for many non-Indian faculty members within the Department of Biological Sciences.
Meganathan's suit lists his starting salary as $19,800 as an assistant professor in 1983. It mentions his salary did increase over time, but says it did not pace the salaries of other department faculty or new hires.
Court documents claim Meganathan made requests starting in 2008 to have his salary adjusted. The lawsuit alleges the department chair did not initiate the necessary paperwork for Meganathan, but did make salary adjustments for other non-Indian faculty during and after that time.
According to court documents, Meganathan also alleges merit scores, used to help determine salary increases, did not reflect his recognitions and claims, "similarly situated non-Indian faculty members, on the other hand, received higher merit scores despite having significantly less publications, or publishing research in less prestigious journals."
The lawsuit says Meganathan filed an internal complaint in 2014 with Affirmative Action Investigations, but says his complaint that his salary be adjusted was denied.
Meganathan is seeking "damages sufficient to compensate [him] for lost wages and benefits."
A spokesperson for NIU says the university does not comment on pending litigation.
A status hearing is set for November 1, 2016 at 9:00 a.m.
