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WNIJ's summary of news items around our state.

Judge Could Rule On NIU Board Of Trustees vs. Haji-Sheikh Case In November

DeKalb County Courthouse, Sycamore, Illinois
Susan Stephens
/
WNIJ
DeKalb County Courthouse, Sycamore, Illinois

A lawsuit between the Northern Illinois University Board of Trustees and Misty Haji-Sheikh regarding former President Doug Baker’s resignation continues.

A DeKalb County judge extended the temporary restraining order barring NIU from taking further action on Baker’s severance package. The next hearing is scheduled for late November.

Charles Philbrick, Haji-Sheikh’s lawyer, says the November court date more than likely will be a dispute of law rather than fact about how NIU notified the public of Baker’s severance terms in June, including a more than $600,000 severance package.

Philbrick says there’s no dispute as to what the board agenda says or when it was made available.

“We don’t need to have a trial on what the agenda said, because we all agree,” Philbrick said. “But we can have an oral argument about whether what the agenda said met the requirements of the statute.”

That agenda item that Philbrick questions is “Presidential Employment – review and approval.”

The judge could make a final decision on the matter in November.

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