UIC law professor gives university an ‘F’ for its EEO investigation

Typically, it’s the students, not the professors, who complain they’ve been graded or treated unfairly. Read on to learn about an instructor who alleges an exam question he drafted led to unfair and illegal treatment by university officials.

Hypothetically speaking

Jason Kilborn is a tenured law professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) School of Law. He recently filed a lawsuit against certain law school officials alleging they mishandled an investigation of complaints against him. The instructor’s troubles started when he included a question on a law school exam that students found objectionable.

Kilborn’s lawsuit states he asked students to analyze a piece of evidence, which was a hypothetical account from a former manager, which stated:

[The manager had] quit her job at employer after she attended a meeting in which other managers expressed their anger at Plaintiff, calling her a ‘n____’ and a ‘b____’ (profane expressions for African Americans and women) and vowed to get rid of her.

According to Kilborn, the question appeared exactly as it’s shown here, with respectfully expurgated references to the slurs.

Apology tour

The law school dean told Kilborn she had been informed about the use of the racial slur on the exam, upsetting some students. Kilborn claims he told the dean he hadn’t actually used any slurs, instead including expurgated references to the words as part of his hypothetical question. He and the dean agreed he should apologize to the class, and he sent a note doing so.