The Jackson State University’s president and governing board are facing a lawsuit from the faculty senate president who last fall was placed on leave pending termination.  Dawn McLin’s lawsuit comes more than two months after a faculty panel reviewed the university’s basis for her termination and recommended she be reinstated to her position as a psychology professor.  But the university’s president, Marcus Thompson, has yet to respond to the panel’s recommendation, putting McLin in what she alleges is a state of limbo meant to force her to resign.  “Their intentional delay prevents Dr. McLin’s reinstatement and continued oversight of her research grants while, at the same time, rendering it impossible for Dr. McLin to pursue alternative employment in academia,” the lawsuit states.  McLin has received support from the Jackson State faculty senate, as well as state and national organizations that support academic freedom, including the American Association of University Professors. Thompson has ignored multiple letters from the professional organization, which has called his delay in reinstating McLin as “extremely disturbing.”   A Jackson State spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment by press time. A spokesperson for the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees said the board does not comment on pending litigation. McLin’s lawsuit is not the only legal action that Thompson is contending with on the heels of his first year as president of Mississippi’s largest historically Black university. A federal judge recently allowed a former administrator’s lawsuit against IHL for hiring Thompson to proceed, prompting individual trustees to appeal the decision to the 5th U.S. Court of Appeals. This month, another former administrator named Linda Rush filed a lawsuit alleging discrimination when Thompson demoted her to hire a less-experienced man, Kylon Alford-Windfield, to lead the university’s division of enrollment management. Sixty days later, the lawsuit claims, Alford-Windfield fired Rush without cause.  Reached for comment, Alford-Windfield said he had not read the lawsuit before murmuring “hm, that’s funny” after a reporter described the complaint.  A ‘sham investigation’ in retaliation? McLin’s lawsuit alleges that Jackson State undertook a “sham investigation” at IHL’s behest to remove her from the university after she oversaw repeated no-confidence votes in the administration.  This prompted an associate provost named Brandi Newkirk-Turner to “seek revenge” through her close relationship with Thompson and the IHL commissioner, Alfred Rankins, according to the lawsuit.  On Aug. 1, shortly after McLin’s contract was renewed, she was given a letter from Thompson stating his intent to terminate her for cause, including “hostile conduct, bullying, harassment and intimidation of fellow JSU employees (including those over whom you have no supervisory responsibilities), interference in the re-accreditation process, abuse of your position as president of the Faculty Senate, and interference in departmental business operations.”  Though Thompson stated multiple grievances and complaints had been filed against McLin, his letter named just one specific example, a time when McLin allegedly turned her chair in a “show of disrespect” to a faculty member who was giving a presentation.  That professor was Newkirk-Turner, McLin alleged in the lawsuit.  When McLin requested a hearing in front of a faculty panel, Jackson State took over six weeks to respond, the lawsuit alleges, even though university policies state that when an employee is suspended or placed on leave, an investigation must move forward as quickly as possible.  The university allegedly gave McLin 10 days to prepare for the hearing, but refused to provide her employment contracts, post-tenure reviews, personnel file or the investigative file underpinning her termination.  During the hearing, McLin’s attorney was not allowed to speak on her behalf, even though Jackson State appeared to the panel through an attorney named Charles Winfield, the lawsuit alleges.  Winfield did not present any witnesses to support the university’s allegations, the lawsuit states. It is unclear if he presented more allegations against McLin than Thompson’s letter did.  The faculty panel ultimately found that Thompson’s firing of McLin was “retaliatory in nature, ultimately promoted by [Dr. Newkirk-Turner], and moved along by a ‘fact finding mission’ initiated by IHL.” Demoted, then allegedly fired without reason When Thompson was named president by the IHL board, a longtime administrator at Jackson State named Linda Rush was serving as the interim vice president for enrollment management. Rush, who had worked at Jackson State for more than 25 years, allegedly told Thompson she wanted to remain in the position. Thompson praised her contributions to the university, calling her “a gift” who “will not be going anywhere because she is JSU.”  But in mid-January, Thompson demoted Rush to executive director of admissions, hiring in her place Alford-Windfield, who had about five years of experience in higher education, the lawsuit alleges.  Thompson and Alford-Windfield were connected: The two were candidates in Jackson State’s executive doctoral program in urban higher education. Days after Thompson’s appointment as president, he went on an international trip with Alford-Windfield and other students from the program.  After that, Rush alleges that Alford-Windfield left her to perform all aspects of his job, including preparing his cabinet reports and speaking notes, while he posted daily Instagram stories. Sixty days later, Alford-Windfield fired Rush without reason, offered to write her a letter of recommendation and had her escorted from campus.  The post Jackson State faculty senate president sues for wrongful termination appeared first on Mississippi Today.