A professor who was not reappointed after he raised concerns relating to labor practices proved his whistleblower claim and is entitled to more than $735,000 in damages, a state court in Connecticut has ruled.
After earning his Ph.D in marketing and management from the University of Connecticut School of Business in 2008, Luke Weinstein accepted a position as a director and assistant professor at the business school. The director position involved an experiential learning center that gives students the opportunity to work with high tech start-ups. Weinstein also had a teaching load for each school term.
He was employed pursuant to a renewable annual contract, although the associate dean who gave him the job told him that it was secure as long as his performance was satisfactory and adequate funding was available.
In 2010, a dean sought to implement a plan by which students in the program would receive fellowships rather than wages. When Weinstein expressed concern that the move might violate applicable labor laws, the dean told him he did not want to hear about it and was tired of having “roadblocks thrown up.”
Weinstein persisted in expressing concerns over the course of 2010, as he was required to do by the code of conduct of the university. The code of conduct also includes a specific provision banning retaliation.
In June of that year, the university reappointed Weinstein as an assistant professor but took away the director role. Then, in May of 2011, it told him he...
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