An ISU professor is suing the university and two colleagues, charging that they conspired against him and prevented him from becoming a full professor.

Moustafa Gabal, associate professor of veterinary medicine, charges that he was denied a promotion by ISU officials after Richard Ross, dean of veterinary medicine, and Charles Thoen, professor and chairman of the veterinary microbiology department, wrongfully and falsely accused him of “scholarly incompetence and misconduct.”

The lawsuit is calling for promotion to full professor and a salary increase to at least $90,000 plus the difference he should have received since 1991.

Paul Tanaka, legal adviser for Ross and Thoen, said the university employees are not at fault.

“We don’t think that the university has done anything wrong or the individual employees,” he said. “We welcome the opportunity to present our position in court, and we’re confident that the court will support our view that the university and their employees have not done anything wrong.”

Gabal said he was approved by former Dean of Veterinary Medicine Oscar Fletcher on Feb. 5, 1992 for a full-professor position, which was supposed to be retroactive since July 1, 1991. Gabal said two weeks later, Ross blocked the promotion as soon as he took the office of dean, accusing Gabal of “scholarly incompetence and misconduct.”

Gabal said the Faculty Senate Appeals committee, along with then-Provost John Kozak, approved his recommendation for full professor on Dec. 17, 1992. They directed Ross to implement the promotion, but he made charges of misconduct and plagiarism, Gabal said.

“[Ross] got his cabinet to support him, though the cabinet has nothing to due with my promotion,” Gabal said. “It is very unusual. No professor at any university would have to go through such a thing as a cabinet proposal.”

Faculty Senate Appeals recommended to the provost that Gabal be promoted and his salary adjusted again in 1995, he said.

“[Ross] did not implement what the provost said to do on two occasions and what the former dean also asked him to do,” Gabal said.

Also in the lawsuit, Gabal charges that Ross and Thoen “wrongfully made inappropriate, incorrect, and unfound statements regarding the quality of Gabal’s professionalism and scholarly work in the presence of other College and Department faculty” and “presented slanted, misleading and incomplete information to the tenured faculty.”

According to court documents, Gabal was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure four years after being hired in 1974. Gabal is claiming his co-workers prevented him from becoming a full professor at Iowa State or any other university.

“He damaged my future with his allegations against me among my peers here and made it almost impossible for me to go anywhere with that kind of false allegations,” he said.

Gabal said he has been working on the lawsuit following university policy on appeals, but he plans to stay at Iowa State.

“I am with Iowa State as long as I will have life in my body; however, I am seeking justice,” Gabal said. “If the university fails to provide justice for the faculty, then I guess the court of law is the other way to seek justice.”