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Former UW-Whitewater dean to continue testimony

By ASSOCIATED PRESS Wednesday, February 10, 2010 - 5:06 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A former University of Wisconsin-Whitewater dean is expected to continue testifying at his civil trial against university officials Wednesday.

Howard Ross started his testimony Monday, but the trial was canceled Tuesday because of the snow. Ross is expected to continue on the witness stand when trial resumes Wednesday morning in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee.

Ross is alleging he faced racial discrimination and retaliation during the university's handling of an audit of his credit card spending and his subsequent demotion in 2006. He has continued to work at the school as a professor.

Ross says his reputation has been unfairly ruined and he is seeking an unspecified amount of damages.

The university has defended the audit and demotion as appropriate.

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(4)

RetiredAirForce
Feb 10, 2010 at 11:31 a.m.
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"your charge that we "need tort reform" would be blocking legitimate claims."
-
Hardly, tort reform is to suppress illegitimate claims...the very kind that drives insurance claims now; most business/insurance companies would settle out of court for a case like the above...before any truth was found by a judge or jury in court.

janesvillean
Feb 10, 2010 at 10:53 a.m.
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thediplomat, Ross has not been charged with a crime. If the UW system had a better audit process they might have had evidence to do so, but to date they have not presented it. In court, Ross has to prove that the preponderance of the evidence shows discrimination. Some anecdotal material has been in the press, but has not been subjected to cross-examination. If he does win the lawsuit, that would broadly indicate that he had a legitimate claim and your charge that we "need tort reform" would be blocking legitimate claims.

SwissChick
Feb 10, 2010 at 8:57 a.m.
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Yup! I DO love it. (Huge eye roll).

thediplomat
Feb 10, 2010 at 8:52 a.m.
Suggest removal

Gotta love when someone commits fraud and can keep their job and sue the company they worked for because their reputation was ruined. Tort reform is an absolute must in this country.

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