Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois University v. Department of Human Rights

At issue in this case is whether the Illinois Department of Human Rights (the Department) has jurisdiction to hear a complaint alleging racial discrimination in an academic program at a public university. We conclude that it does not.

Plaintiffs, the Board of Trustees (the Board) of Southern Illinois University (SIU) and certain of SIU’s employees, David White, Jim Bramlet, Richard Moy and Terry Travis, were granted a writ of prohibition by the circuit court of Jackson County to prevent defendants, the Department, its director, Joyce E. Tucker, and two of its investigators, Freddie Gatewood…