Dylan Kesler said he plans to drop the federal case against the University of Missouri but may pursue other legal action.
The 42-year-old wildlife biologist has published nearly 30 scientific papers since his 2007 hiring as a University of Missouri assistant professor. He’s received high marks for his teaching and is a favorite of the school’s public relations team, which recently featured his work on mallard duck migration.
What those university press releases don’t say, though, is how Kesler filed a 2013 complaint with government prosecutors alleging the misuse of federal grants by colleagues. Or how a researcher whose work regularly exceeded expectations in his annual job reviews was subsequently accused of plagiarism in what he calls a targeted effort by his superiors to silence him. Though a university inquiry found “insufficient” evidence of misconduct, Kesler was nonetheless denied tenure by Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin, despite strong support from both colleagues in his department as well as a faculty advisory panel from the broader campus.
“I was the golden boy,” Kesler told The Associated Press in his first public comments since filing a sealed complaint against the university and three superiors in May 2013 under the federal False Claims Act. “They had to drum up something to make me look bad.”
The confidential complaint was made public in July after the U.S. Attorney’s office in Kansas City declined to intervene for reasons it did not provide to Kesler nor in response to an AP request. Kesler’s attorney, George Smith, attributed the government’s move to the relatively small amount of money at stake compared to its previous False Claims prosecutions.
The Justice Department told Kesler he can continue to litigate on the government’s behalf, but since the university is a public entity, he wouldn’t be eligible to receive any money, including for legal fees, should his claims prevail. Unable to afford a prolonged legal fight against his employer, Kesler said he plans to drop the federal case but may pursue other legal action.
In the meantime, he’s out of a job after the spring semester.
