Roosevelt University professor fired over joke files lawsuit

A Roosevelt University adjunct professor is suing the school in federal court, claiming he was wrongfully terminated for telling a joke that led to a harassment complaint from a student.

Robert Klein Engler, 68, of Des Plaines, had been teaching at Roosevelt University's Chicago campus for more than 11 years when he told the joke during a City and Citizenship class in the spring of 2010, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court.

The joke, court documents indicate, was “A group of sociologists did a poll in Arizona regarding the state's new immigration law. Sixty percent said they were in favor, and 40 percent said, ‘No hablo Ingles.'”

Arizona's controversial law is considered one the toughest anti-illegal immigration measures in the country. Critics say it could lead to racial profiling.

Roosevelt University officials declined to comment on both Engler's firing and the lawsuit, citing it as a personnel matter.

The suit, however, indicates Roosevelt's stated reason for Engler's dismissal wasn't the joke, but his refusal to cooperate with an investigation into a complaint against him.

Engler declined to comment, but his attorney, Doug Ibendahl, disputes Roosevelt's contention the former professor wouldn't cooperate.

It was Engler, Ibendahl said, who began investigating the matter last year after receiving no class assignments for the fall 2010 semester without a word of explanation from the university.

In response to his inquiries, Engler was told on May 13, 2010 of an unspecified harassment complaint against him, according to the suit. He was unable to learn the nature of the complaint, even after a meeting that could include possible disciplinary action was scheduled for Oct. 6, 2010, Ibendahl said.

“My client had the crazy idea that he should know what the formal charge was before he entered a disciplinary hearing,” Ibendahl said.

Engler did not attend the Oct. 6 meeting and was formally fired, by email, four days later, Ibendahl added.

The suit claims Engler often employed humor as a way of getting ideas across to students, and argues that the remark was a “harmless joke,” not unlike what someone might hear on late-night talk shows. The suit even cites a joke President Barack Obama told about the Arizona immigration law.

“Even by the possibly hypersensitive standards of today's academic community, the joke allegedly related by the plaintiff to an entire classroom of university students did not come close to violating any reasonable community standard as to what constitutes offensive or harassing conduct,” the suit states.

Engler, who has not taught anywhere since his firing, is seeking monetary damages and repayment of his legal fees. Most important, his lawyer said, he wants reinstatement to his former position along with back pay.

“That's the best way to repair his reputation,” Ibendahl said.