A former university professor has filed a lawsuit against his previous employer, alleging age discrimination and wrongful termination. Dr. Karim El Kholy lodged the complaint on August 5, 2024, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana against the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College (LSU).
Dr. El Kholy was hired by LSU in August 2015 as a Professional-in-Residence in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. Despite receiving several awards for his teaching performance and consistently surpassing departmental and college averages in student evaluations, he was informed on May 10, 2023, that his contract would not be renewed after May 19, 2024. This decision came without any explanation from either the Dean or Department Chair, leaving Dr. El Kholy feeling humiliated.
The plaintiff alleges that LSU's decision not to renew his contract was based on unproven allegations of inappropriate interactions with students in 2017 and 2022. These allegations were investigated thoroughly through a Title IX proceeding which concluded with no violations found. Dr. El Kholy believes that these accusations were used as a pretext for age discrimination since younger faculty members were allowed to continue teaching his courses after his non-renewal.
On January 29, 2024, Dr. El Kholy requested all communications and documents related to his termination from LSU President Tate but received only partial records. He subsequently filed a charge of age discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and exhausted all applicable administrative remedies before filing this lawsuit upon receiving a right-to-sue letter from EEOC on May 6, 2024.
Dr. El Kholy's complaint outlines how he dedicated himself to teaching throughout his career at LSU, often conducting summer courses to support his family financially. However, just twelve days before the start of the summer semester in which he planned to teach, he was informed that he would not be allowed to conduct these courses, leaving him without alternative income or sufficient time to find another source of employment for the summer.
In response to LSU's position paper asserting that the non-renewal was due to alleged performance issues and prior allegations of inappropriate interactions with students, Dr. El Kholy contends that these reasons are false and pretextual. He argues that despite counseling following past allegations—which did not meet Title IX violation thresholds—his performance did not deteriorate but rather continued to receive positive evaluations from students.
Dr. El Kholy is seeking several forms of relief from the court: back pay for lost wages and benefits; reinstatement to his previous position or front pay in lieu thereof; liquidated damages under ADEA; pre-and-post-judgment interest; reasonable attorneys’ fees; litigation expenses; costs; and any other relief deemed just by the court.
The case is being handled by J. Arthur Smith III from Smith Law Firm representing Dr. Karim El Kholy while presided over by Judge RLB-EWD under Case ID: 3:24-cv-00637-RLB-EWD.