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Lawyer: 'Bubble fusion' prof will sue Purdue
By Brian Wallheimer
The [Lafayette, Indiana] Journal & Courier

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

A Purdue University professor already suing two colleagues will sue the university itself, according to his attorney.

Rusi Taleyarkhan, the nuclear engineering scientist found guilty earlier this year of two counts of research misconduct, will file a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission later this month, according to John Lewis, his Indianapolis attorney. He said that step is necessary before a federal lawsuit can be filed.

"We're preparing with the EEOC and eventually a federal court," Lewis said.

Taleyarkhan, who claims to have discovered bubble fusion, a potentially cheap, environmentally clean source of limitless energy, was found guilty of adding a student's name to a journal paper knowing the student wasn't involved in the research and claiming in another journal that his work had been independently verified when he had been involved in the experiments that were supposed to be independent.

He appealed the findings but lost. Purdue leveled sanctions against him, including loss of his named professorship, limited work with graduate students and loss of research funding.

Lewis said the EEOC complaint will claim that Taleyarkhan was discriminated against because of his race and national origin. Taleyarkhan is from India.

It will also claim he wasn't given due process in the misconduct investigation because the charges he was found guilty of were fabricated. The charges Taleyarkhan was found guilty of were not forwarded from an inquiry committee to the investigation committee that found him guilty.

"Therefore, Dr. Taleyarkhan did not get due process," Lewis said.

An inquiry committee acts as a sort of grand jury in a criminal proceeding, deciding if there's enough evidence to indict someone, or in this case, whether there's enough information to investigate misconduct. An investigation committee then researches the claims and decides on a verdict.

A Purdue attorney said during the appeal process that several charges were combined and restated to come up with the ones that Taleyarkhan was found guilty of. A new research misconduct policy adopted by the university specifically allows new charges to be brought by the investigation committee itself, but the rules used during the Taleyarkhan investigation did not address that issue.

Lewis also said Taleyarkhan was the subject of discrimination based on his race or national origin from Lefteri Tsoukalas, former head of the School of Nuclear Engineering. Taleyarkhan has claimed Tsoukalas called him names, such as "stupid Indian" and "worthless Indian," and that Purdue protected Tsoukalas despite his alleged actions.

Taleyarkhan earlier this year filed a civil lawsuit in Tippecanoe County against Tatjana Jevremovic and Tsoukalas for defamation, civil harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress for what Taleyarkhan said was a campaign to destroy his reputation.

Tsoukalas did not respond to e-mail or phone calls seeking comment.

A Purdue spokeswoman declined to comment on the issue since the complaint hadn't been filed.

According to the EEOC Web site, any complaints received will be reviewed and either sent to a further investigation or dismissed for lack of evidence. At any time the sides can agree to mediation or a settlement.

If the EEOC finds there is no reason to investigate further, doesn't find that discrimination took place or finds that an institution found guilty of discrimination doesn't comply with EEOC rules, the complainant can file a lawsuit.

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