Asian American professor wrongfully accused of spying for China is suing University of Kansas

Franklin Tao, an Asian American scientist who was wrongfully accused of spying for China, is suing the University of Kansas, his former employer, accusing it of “vicious, unabated discrimination.”

Franklin Tao, an Asian American scientist who was wrongfully accused of spying for China, is  suing the University of Kansas, his former employer, accusing it of “vicious, unabated discrimination.” 

Tao, a chemistry professor, said in a lawsuit filed last week that he was “unfairly and unlawfully” terminated from his tenured position and is seeking to be reinstated. 

Feng "Franklin" Tao, a professor at the University of Kansas, poses in this undated photo.Kelsey Kimberlin / University of Kansas via ReutersTao was falsely accused in 2019 of economic espionage, making him the first professor arrested and jailed under the contentious Trump-era China Initiative. The since-shuttered national security initiative was widely criticized for racial profiling and targeting Asian American scholars. It was amid his yearslong case that Tao, who was acquitted last year, alleges in the complaint that the school collaborated with the Justice Department to “persecute” him. 

“Professor Tao’s life, career, reputation and finances are in shambles as a result of KU’s egregious conduct,” the complaint says. “Rather than embracing academic rigor and enlightened, critical judgment, the university allowed itself to join in fear mongering and racist witch hunting.” 

Neither the University of Kansas nor the Department of Justice responded to NBC News’ requests for comment. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/franklin-tao-professor-china-university-kansas-rcna187063

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