Court Dismisses Religious and National Origin Discrimination Claim Against College

In Shakir v. Board of Trustees of Rend Lake College, (SD IL, Feb. 8, 2010), and Illinois federal district court granted summary judgment to defendants in a case in which plaintiff, the former vice president of student services at Rend Lake College, charged religious and national origin discrimination. Plaintiff Salah Shakir charged that the true reason the College investigated him, froze his salary and transferred him to a different position stemmed from discriminatory attitudes toward his Muslim religion and his Iraqi nationality. He also claimed that he was not chosen as College president in retaliation for his filing an EEOC complaint. The court concluded that plaintiff failed to prove discriminatory intent on the part of defendants. Yesterday's Mt. Vernon (IL) Register-News reported on the decision.