An Arab Muslim was hired as an associate professor at Illinois State University, where he taught and published for 5 years—just shy of the 6 years of required probation before he could win tenure. But the school had already let him know that his contract would not be renewed after 6 years. So he quit and sued, charging discrimination and retaliation.

What happened. "Ahmadi," who is of Sudanese, Yemeni, and Saudi Arabian descent, began teaching in the university's information technology (IT) school in 2001. The three levels of professors—assistant, associate and full—were evaluated by a Status Committee every year and graded on teaching, scholarly production, and service.

From the beginning, Ahmadi scored quite poorly, especially on service. For 2001, for example, he had the worst evaluation for service in the school and tied for the lowest teaching score. Although he was warned each year that he needed to improve in order to be granted tenure, nothing much changed through his 2005 evaluation.

In the fall of 2004, a new school director arrived. And, he directed the Status Committee to put more weight in professor evaluations on student ratings. Ahmadi immediately objected that students are biased against foreign-born professors, and three colleagues agreed. The next year, one of the three complained of discrimination to the university's Diversity Committee, and Ahmadi participated in the investigation. The year after that, a second colleague complained that the school director had unfairly influenced the Status Committee, and Ahmadi supported that complaint. He also approached the school director about that complaint.

The director angrily told Ahmadi he had not been recommended for tenure nor had his contract renewed. He sued. A federal district court judge rejected all his claims but one—that of retaliation for complaining about student evaluations. That claim was sent to a jury, which ruled against Ahmadi. He appealed to the 7th Circuit, which covers Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

What the court said. Ahmadi mainly argued that the school should have compared him to all IT professors at all three levels, because the Status Committee used the same rating system for all levels. But appellate judges disagreed, noting that assistants were held to a lower standard than associates and full professors to a higher one. So Ahmadi lost his case again. Abuelyaman v. Illinois State, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, No. 10-2926 (12/13/11)

Point to remember: If four foreign-born professors believed students were biased against them, the school should perhaps have sought a more objective system.