Ignacio Chapela held a press conference on Monday, April 18th to announce his lawsuit related to denial of tenure with the Environmental Science, Policy and Management Department at UC Berkeley. On the steps of Hilgard Hall, where he still holds lab space, Chapela and his lawyer Dan Siegel, who is known for his participation in the UC Berkeley Free Speech movement in the mid 1960s, detailed the three major claims in their lawsuit to be filed this week in Alameda County Superior court. Chapela's claims are: discrimination against a whistleblower since Chapela was retaliated against for calling attention to the transmission of pollen from genetically engineered crops into nearby fields planted with native crops; Fraud, because the university had not disclosed thathe would likely never obtain tenure due to his intellectual convictions and scholarly focus if people in power at the school disagreed with his research agenda; and discrimination on basis of national origin, as he claims that the university has a record of unequally granting tenture to candidates from different background with equivalent publication records and demonstration of permit

Ignacio Chapela has a career history working in agricultural biotech research at the USDA, with Sandoz Pharmaceutical, limited in Basel switzerland, and as a visiting fellow in the Dept. of Plant pathology at Cornell University. Colleagues in his department overwhelmingly recommended tenure for him. His last day teaching at UC Berkeley was December 9th. The court case is expected to last as long as 18 months. Read more

Tenure Justice Website | Pulse of Science, which includes more lawsuit details | Chapela Tenure Case