Grade Inflation Rampant At Oakton College, Former Instructor Alleges In Whistleblower Suit
CHICAGO — A former adjunct geography instructor at Oakton Community College this month filed a federal lawsuit against school officials, claiming that he was fired in retaliation for complaining about grade inflation.
R. Cary Capparelli also alleges that Oakton administrators discriminated against him because he is a white man, while conspiring to deny him his constitutional free speech and due process rights.
“At all relevant times during his employment, [Capparelli] was treated less favorably than his female counterparts seeking and holding employment with [Oakton], due to his gender, ” according to the suit filed on his behalf Dec. 3 in Chicago.
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In his eight-count complaint, Capparelli says he taught at Oakton for more than a year, but he stopped receiving class assignments before the fall of 2022. That summer, Capparelli had tried to give a failing grade to one of his students.
“The aforementioned student did not meet basic academic requirements. The student did not participate in discussion nor did the student ever submit a term paper,” the complaint alleges.
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The student complained to the department chair, who sided against Capparelli “in line with the policy of inflating grades,” and the dean ultimately gave the student a passing grade over the teacher’s objection.
Oakton officials, including the head of its adjunct faculty association, promoted lenient grading policies to maintain enrollment and responded to his ethical and legal concerns with apparent contempt, according to the former instructor’s complaint.
Capparelli alleges he had also been outspoken about no-show students in staff meetings prior to his termination.
“In department meetings during the Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 terms, [Capparelli] raised concerns about students enrolling without participating in classes, potentially to secure government grants,” it said.
Administrators ignored him, according to his lawsuit.
“During his employment, [Capparelli] became aware of and spoke out against the Community College’s unlawful practices, which included directives to inflate student grades, pass undeserving students, and encourage enrollment of students who did not participate in classes.
“These actions were designed to misrepresent academic performance and student participation, thereby fraudulently securing state and federal funding for which the College would not otherwise qualify,” it said.
“[Capparelli] raised these concerns during faculty meetings, directly challenging the College’s actions and refusing to participate in the misconduct. Despite [his] efforts to expose these practices, the College retaliated against him, punishing him for his whistleblowing rather than investigating [his] allegations,” according to his suit.
Capparelli is a Chicago businessman with a background in marketing and motorsports and a two-time Republican candidate for Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. He also teaches a dozen classes at South Dakota State University.
Patch requested comment about his suit from representatives of Oakton College, a public body with campuses in Des Plaines and Skokie. Any response received will be added here.
All but about 25 of the approximately 250 emails that Capparelli alleges he exchanged with college officials were “lost,” though one recovered message confirms that college staff had required him to teach in-person after he told them he did not want to do so, according to his 20-page complaint.
The suit also notes that Capparelli had a meeting in September 2023 with Oakton’s provost, dean and human resources to discuss his complaints.
“[Capparelli] noted that three of the administrators present at the meeting displayed hostile treatment towards him based on him being a white male. Non-white males who made reports and requested investigation were treated fairly,” it said.
The final report, which was produced six weeks late, determined that he was no longer qualified to teach courses at the community college without addressing his complaints, according to the suit.
“The college has a well-settled and widespread policy of retaliating against employees for their speech and taking adverse employment action against employees” it alleges, “if they posed any kind of perceived comments that would jeopardize the college from securing funding.”
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