Former Professor Sues Texas A&M, Alleges Retaliation for Reporting Illegal Discrimination

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Joseph Ura, who served as a Texas A&M political science professor for sixteen years, has filed a federal lawsuit against the university alleging retaliation for reporting illegal sex discrimination and veteran-status discrimination.

Ura's lawsuit relates to events that unfolded at Texas A&M's international campus in Doha, Qatar in the fall semester of 2021.

According to Ura's complaint, the dean of Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ), Cesar Malavé, took action to remove two women serving in the campus's Liberal Arts Program from the faculty. Malavé denied a request from a tenured Texas A&M anthropology professor to extend her visiting position in Qatar, and he directed Ura to give notice of non-renewal to an instructional history professor, who is also a U.S. Air Force veteran, which would have ended her faculty position at the close of the academic year.

In the following weeks, Ura alleges he encountered evidence of a pattern of discrimination against women by Malavé. He also discovered another TAMUQ faculty member had reported sex discrimination by Dean Malavé in the spring of 2021 to A&M's Dean of Faculties, but that report was never passed to university civil rights officials nor investigated.

Ura alleges he also learned Malavé had been petitioned by TAMUQ students to remove the history instructor from the campus's faculty because of objections to her public comments supporting Israel and her Air Force service. According to the complaint, Malavé also later admitted to Texas A&M investigators he had been pressured by the Qatar Foundation, Qatar's state-sponsored philanthropy which funds TAMUQ, to remove the history instructor because of her statements on Israel and military service.

Ura, as stated in the filing, refused to issue the non-renewal notice, and in late September, he wrote to the Texas A&M University System's Office of Ethics and Compliance reporting his suspicions Malavé had illegally discriminated against his colleagues because their sex and veteran status.

"The background of this situation… echoes other recent events at Texas A&M," says Ura. "Kathleen McElroy's and Joy Alonzo's cases are neither the beginning nor the end of Texas A&M's problems with discrimination and outside influence in academic affairs."

The complaint details how three weeks after Ura filed his report, Malavé asked him to resign as Liberal Arts Program Chair. Ura refused and, the next day, Malavé removed Ura from his administrative post.

In November 2021, Ura filed complaints against Malavé for retaliation with Texas A&M University and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Ura's lawsuit also claims that Texas A&M failed to conduct a fair and impartial investigation into his retaliation charge before clearing Malavé of wrongdoing in the summer of 2022.

However, the EEOC issued a cause finding against Texas A&M in favor of Ura in May of this year following its own independent inquiry.

In recent years, the EEOC has issued cause findings against employers in only about three percent of the discrimination and retaliation complaints it receives.

Ura's complaint against Texas A&M is the second lawsuit filed against the university related to allegations of discrimination by Malavé.

Malavé remains dean at TAMUQ. Ura left Texas A&M this summer to take a faculty position at another university.

"I hope this lawsuit leads to positive changes for the thousands of excellent Texas A&M students, staff, and faculty members who deserve much better," says Ura.

The case is captioned Dr. Joseph Ura v. Texas A&M University, No. 4:23-cv-2934, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Dr. Ura is represented by his attorneys at Wiley Walsh, Wiley Wheeler, and Rob Wiley, P.C.

For any questions or if would like to speak with Dr. Ura, please contact Mr. Colin Walsh at Wiley Walsh, P.C. at 512-271-5527.

Related Links

https://www.wileywalsh.com
https://www.scribd.com/document/664058161/Dr-Joseph-Ura-v-Texas-A-M-University-No-4-23-cv-2934

SOURCE Wiley Walsh, P.C.