CLARKSBURG – A former WVU professor says he was a victim of wrongful termination, age discrimination and retaliation.
Dr. Christiaan Abildso filed his complaint in federal court October 7 against West Virginia University.
According to the complaint, Abildso was employed by WVU for about 15 years and a faculty member for 10 of those years. He was an associate full professor with an annual salary of about $130,000, and his primary job responsibilities included research, teaching and service. Starting in 2023, he was coordinator of the Ph.D. program in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
In the Provost’s August 10, 2023, review of the School of Public Health’s academic programs, the Ph.D. program was recommended to continue at the current level of activity, according to the complaint. An appeal from the SPH later that month indicated the department had 39 faculty and proposed cutting 14 positions. The report also indicated the Ph.D. in Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences was going to be cut.
Abildso says he learned a Senior Associate Dean of Public Health had given the Provost an erroneous count that “significantly affected” the plaintiff, according to the complaint.
“The plaintiff helped organize opposition to said plan, including 27 faculty, and presented an alternate plan proposing to only cut eight faculty and saving the Ph.D. in and Environmental Health Sciences program,” the complaint states. “The plaintiff’s plan would have saved the same $2 million as had been provided in the Dean’s plan.”
There was a public meeting about the issue on September 14, 2023, and a meeting the next day with the WVU Board of Governors to vote on the reductions, according to the complaint. Abildso attended the public meeting and spoke during the board meeting to “reinforce the misstatements made in the Dean’s proposal and to promote the accuracy and efficacy of the plan presented by himself and by the other faculty.”
Abildso says the opposition was “obviously not well received.”
On October 9, 2023, Abildso says he was notified by Dr. Jeffrey H. Coben, Dean of the School of Public Health, his position would be terminated at the end of the 2023-24 school year. The notice said it was because of a reduction in force.
Abildso also says documentation appears to show age played a “significant role” in determinations to terminate faculty in the department.
“The plaintiff is aware of younger employees, that are less experienced and with primary teaching appointments in one of the six other School of Public Health programs that were recommended for faculty reductions that were not terminated,” the complaint states. “The plaintiff maintains that the factors used in accordance with the Board of Governors Faculty Rule 4.7, Reduction in Force, was not in fact used properly in his case. …
“It is hard to understand how or why other faculty in his school were not terminated prior to him.”
Abildso did file a charge for discrimination and retaliation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which transferred the matter to the West Virginia Human Rights Commission.
He accuses WVU of violating his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights to free speech and to petition the government as well as age discrimination and retaliation.
Abildso seeks damages for lost wages and benefits, compensatory damages for pain, suffering, emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment and inconvenience, loss of standing and reputation in the community, liquidated damages, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
He also seeks a permanent injunction enjoining WVU from employment practices that violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 as well as the First and Fourteenth Amendments. He also wants back pay with pre-judgment interest and compensation for lost benefits, attorney fees, court costs and to have any negative, discriminatory and defamatory documentation removed from his employment record.
Abildso is being represented by Sean A. Casey from Pittsburgh. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Thomas Kleeh.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia case number 1:24-cv-94