A judge dismissed Dr. John Charalambakis’ discrimination, retaliation and defamation claims, and a jury rejected his breach-of-contract claim against Asbury University.
On one hand, Asbury University in Wilmore successfully defended a national origin discrimination and retaliation suit by a fired economics ex-professor. But Asbury failed to overturn a $380,000 jury verdict in favor of a former women’s basketball coach who claimed she was targeted for retaliation after filing a gender bias complaint.
The first case involved Dr. John Charalambakis, a Greek-born economist who joined the faculty as an assistant professor in 1996 and was later promoted to full professor. In 2009, the college began an investigation into student allegations of misconduct concerning his outside business activities.
As a result of the investigation, the provost found sufficient grounds for termination, including insubordination and failure to follow Asbury’s moral principles and standards of campus life. Even so, the provost chose to place him on probation for two years instead.
In January 2010, Charalambakis filed a national origin discrimination complaint with the Kentucky Commission in Human Rights. In April of that year, Asbury fired him for continued violations of faculty standards and for violating the conditions of probation.
He then sued the university and several of its officials. A judge dismissed the discrimination, retaliation and defamation claims, and a jury rejected his breach-of-contract claim.
In a unanimous decision, the state Court of Appeals refused to reinstate the case.
