Law prof, 78, sues Northwestern for alleged age bias in pay raises
Law Professors
Law prof, 78, sues Northwestern for alleged age bias in pay raises
November 10, 2023, 10:51 am CST
The Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. Photo from Shutterstock.
A law professor who has been teaching at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law since 1981 has filed an age discrimination lawsuit alleging that he is receiving less in base pay than “significantly younger less experienced counterparts.”
Philip F. Postlewaite, 78, alleges that annual increases in his base pay have lagged behind that paid to younger professors since he rejected an early retirement option in December 2013. The option was offered to the law school’s oldest faculty members, and many others accepted the offer.
Reuters, Law360, the Daily Northwestern and Above the Law have stories on the Nov. 7 suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
The suit described Postlewaite as “one of the preeminent scholars in the field of tax law.” He started an LLM tax program at Northwestern that was “operational and revenue-producing” by August 2002. Now, it is consistently ranked as one of the top four tax programs in the country. He is the director of the program.
Postlewaite receives a base salary and an administrative stipend for his LLM tax responsibilities. The suit said his base salary is $7,000 below the 50th percentile salary, which is listed at $289,224 by Northwestern.
The suit alleges violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Illinois Human Rights Act.
