UND Settles Discrimination Suit Against Vietnamese Professor
http://web.northscape.com/content/gfherald/2001/02/02/news/TB202THONG.htm Friday, February 2, 2001
DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT: UND settles dispute with fired lecturer
Lawsuit ends with confidential agreement
By Tom Bryan Herald Staff Writer
Attorneys for UND have quietly negotiated an out-of-court settlement with a former lecturer who named the university and two of its employees in a civil lawsuit after he was fired abruptly last semester.
UND entered into a "confidential" agreement with Benjamin Thong and his Grand Forks attorney, David Thompson, according to recently filed court documents. However, the details of the settlement have not been publicly disclosed.
"I'm not able to discuss any specifics of the resolution," Thompson said. "The case has been resolved and settled. The (dismissal) documents will be filed at the courthouse soon."
Thong was fired from his teaching position at the University Learning Center Dec. 29. UND police told Thong to leave the campus and "never return," he claims. UND officials said Thong was fired because his job performance was substandard.
In early January, Thong filed suit against the university and the two people who were involved his firing, Carolyn DeLorme, the former director of the Learning Center, and Donald Piper, associate vice president of enrollment management at UND.
Thong contended that his ethnicity -- he is Vietnamese -- played a role in his firing; Thong also claimed he was denied certain due process rights when he was dismissed.
After the suit was filed, Northeast Central District Judge Bruce Bohlman ordered UND to reinstate Thong to his former position pending a hearing that was scheduled for this week. That hearing was canceled Friday, according to court documents, when UND attorneys worked out a confidential settlement with Thong.
A letter filed as a court document on Jan. 26 explained that "all parties in the case have entered into a settlement.?.?.?the terms of which are confidential." According to the letter, Thong, Piper, Delorme and UND general counsel Julie Evans have all seen, and plan to sign, the agreement.
"As a result of this settlement," Thompson wrote to the court, "there seems to be no further need for (this week's) hearing."
Assistant North Dakota attorney general Tag Anderson, who handles employment discrimination lawsuits for the state, is preparing "stipulations of dismissal" in regard to the settlement offer, according to court records.
1/11/2001 VIETNAMESE DISCRIMINATION Dr. Benjamin Thong sues UND contending he was dismissed and denied certain due process rights because of his ethnicity.
UND FACULTY REACT TO THONG'S COMPLAINT