Augustana loses bid to dismiss lawsuit filed by former professors

Music professors claim discrimination, retaliation

A federal lawsuit brought by two former Augustana University professors who claim school officials retaliated against  them after they accused the school of discrimination will go forward.

However, some claims made by Lisa Grevlos and Paul Nesheim were dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge Karen Schreier on Friday. Schreier also granted Augustana’s motion to dismiss certain damage claims made by Grevlos and Nesheim, writing that those damages are not recoverable under breach of contract or age discrimination claims.

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But the bulk of the lawsuit filed this year by Grevlos and Nesheim survived Augustana’s motion to dismiss. That included breach of contract, age discrimination claims, retaliation and a sexual discrimination claim made by Grevlos.

The basis of her sexual discrimination claim started in 2020 when she was excluded, she alleges, from music department meetings by male colleagues because she was a woman. Both Grevlos and Nesheim were tenured professors in the music department.

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