Professor Gets 300k For Retaliation Suit

 

A professor who claimed he was a victim of retaliation and age discrimination recovered $300,000 in a lawsuit against the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Tenured professor Robert Klebe was in his late 50s when he received a pay cut in 2003. That year, the university hired several younger faculty members despite a lack of budgeted funds. Klebe alleged the university transferred his pay reduction to their salaries. After he complained about the perceived age discrimination, he claimed the university retaliated against him by giving him negative job evaluations and mishandling the licenses for patents it held on his inventions. A jury found that the university had not engaged in age discrimination but that it did retaliate against Klebe in the job evaluations. The jury awarded Klebe $900,000 for mental anguish; however, state law capped the damages at $300,000.