The University of California Board of Regents may take the uncommon step of firing a tenured professor of finance at UC Riverside. The professor, Sarkis Joseph Koury, believes he is being punished for his Republican views, among other things:
However, Sarkis Joseph Khoury and one of his attorneys confirm that he is the professor in question and contend that the regents’ discussion is the result of his long-term disagreements over his sabbaticals; his Republican political views and Lebanese heritage; and his advocacy for hiring minority professors, among other matters.
This isn’t the first time UC has attempted to punish Khoury:
The disputes began so long ago that some UC administrators involved have since died. In 1995, UC Riverside demoted Khoury over allegations that he improperly received $30,000 for teaching at the University of British Columbia while on a UC sabbatical in 1988. Khoury, who denied that charge and said he was given only expense money, sued UC, and a Superior Court ruled that the university system had waited too long to pursue any discipline and ordered him reinstated to his full professorship.
Among other related cases, UC sued him again in 2007 for financial damages and penalties for that alleged sabbatical violation and two others later at universities in Sweden and Lebanon. A state appeals court ruled nine months ago that UC had to first complete an in-house investigation and review, and the state Supreme Court in July declined to hear an appeal. Khoury, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in the past, is countersuing UC.
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