Chicago State University to Pay $1.3M in Whistleblower Lawsuit

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Chicago State University has agreed to pay $1.3 million to end a whistleblower lawsuit brought by a former administrator.

The university’s insurance carrier will pay $847,000 in back pay and other compensation to Glenn Meeks, the school’s former chief financial officer. Meeks’ attorneys will get $453,000. Meeks claimed he was fired in 2013 in retaliation for complaining of possible ethical violations by then-president Watson. The case had been set to go to trial on Jan. 9.

The university did not admit any liability and said it resolved the case to minimize costs and distractions at a school beset by low enrollment and financial woes.

Last year, a jury awarded more than $3 million to university attorney James Crowley, who was fired for turning over former university president Wayne Watson’s employment records under the state’s open records law, and for exposing questionable university contracts.