Former UW-Whitewater Dean Sues School

MADISON, Wis. -- A former dean of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater who was fired for financial mismanagement has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit claiming he was ousted because he is black.

Lee Jones, who was once viewed as a dean who could bring diversity to the campus, accused top university officials of singling him out for an audit of his expenses because of his race in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court last month.

Jones was fired as dean of graduate studies and continuing education in December 2005 after a school audit found he repeatedly broke school rules on credit card spending and travel.

He was moved into a job as a tenured education professor that was guaranteed in his employment contract, but the university had started the process to remove him from that post, citing misuse of school funds, and he resigned in April 2006.

Jones has acknowledged spending mistakes but denied it was for personal gain, saying it was job related.

University spokeswoman Sara Kuhl said the school stands by the way it has dealt with Jones. She would not comment on allegations in the suit.

The lawsuit names the UW System Board of Regents, UW-Whitewater Chancellor Martha Saunders, Provost Richard Telfer and former university officials Jim Freer and Indra Mohabir-Engstrand.

Jones, who founded a national group to help black men move up the ranks in academia, resigned from Florida State University in 2003 as the university investigated his spending there. He was hired in Wisconsin months later.