Donald Grady, former NIU police chief, had a hearing July 14 regarding a civil rights lawsuit filed against NIU.

The lawsuit was filed in February 2015 against members of the Board of Trustees, former President John Peters and several other administrators. It claims Grady faced racial discrimination, retaliation and denial of due process.

Grady’s employment was ended in February 2013 after being placed on paid leave in November 2012 when Judge Robbin Stuckert ruled there was purposeful hiding of two witness statements by the NIU Police Department in the case of Andrew Rifkin, a former police officer who faced charges of sexually assaulting a student.

After his termination, Grady said the disciplinary action taken against him was “worse than other Caucasian employees who were involved in more serious misconduct,” according to Leninweber’s decision, alluding to the NIU employees involved in the Coffee Fund, where employees sold university-owned scrap metal for personal gain.