DeKALB | Biological Sciences Professor Rangaswamy Meganathan is suing NIU on one count of race and national origin discrimination.

Meganathan claims NIU officials have discriminated against him since he was hired in 1983 by “keeping [the] plaintiff’s salary substantially lower than similarly situated non-Indian faculty members,” according to court documents submitted by Foote, Mielke, Chavez and O’Neil, LLC on Aug. 23.

Meganathan, who had produced 17 publications by 1983, was hired with a starting annual salary of $19,800. The following year, Biological Sciences Professor Virginia Naples was hired as a full-time assistant professor with an annual salary of $25,200, according to court documents. Naples had one publication at the time.

Naples presented a female salary inequity conflict to the Board of Trustees in July. She said female professors in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences are earning $8,000 less than male professors, according to a July 21 Northern Star article.

Beginning in 2008, Meganathan began making requests for a salary adjustment, but the request was denied.

The case is on the docket in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Western Division.

The Board of Trustees and other administrators are also dealing with a lawsuit filed by Don Grady, former NIU police chief, on the basis of racial discrimination, according to a Jan. 20, 2015 Northern Star article. Court proceedings for the case will begin in January, according to court documents.

NIU Spokesperson Joseph King said NIU does not have any comment about the case filed by Meganathan at this time. Meganathan’s Attorney Peter Currie did not immediately respond to a request for comment.