A Wisconsin man is suing over claims his employment as an assistant professor was terminated due to discrimination against his Indian nationality.
Sudeep P. Ingole filed a lawsuit June 27 in the Galveston County District Court against Texas A&M University System, citing employment discrimination.
Ingole, born in India, was employed as an assistant professor, a tenure-track position, in the Department of Marine Engineering Technology at Texas A&M University in Galveston. According to the complaint, the University sponsored him to live and work in the U.S. Ingole says in 2011, when he attempted to renew his visa with Texas A&M's sponsorship, the university did not comply, and was forced to return to India.
The lawsuit states Texas A&M notified Ingole of his tenure consideration review, which should not have occurred for another two years, while they knew Ingole could not be present at the university.
Texas A&M is accused of specifically scheduling this early review to harass Ingole, as the two non-Indian associate professors were not subjected to the early review.
Ingole alleges that when he returned in 2013, he experienced other discriminatory harassment, such as being forced to move his lab, someone moving his equipment and throwing his papers in the trash, extensions granted to other associate professors but not him and giving him more than a full course load of classes that other professors didn't want to teach. Ingole claims these actions ultimately resulted in his wrongful termination.
Ingole is seeking damages, back pay and front pay and attorney's fees.
He is being represented in the case by attorney Gregg M. Rosenberg of Rosenberg & Sprovach in Houston.
Galveston County District Court Case No. 14-CV-0700
This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in the Galveston County District Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.