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St. Cloud State University Wins Dismissal of Discrimination Lawsuit

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — A federal judge has dismissed a discrimination lawsuit filed by a former administrator against St. Cloud State University.

Mahmoud Saffari had been an associate vice president in charge of enrollment management. He sued alleging civil rights violations, discrimination, defamation and violations of the state Data Practices Act after he was fired in 2011.

Saffari claimed he was discriminated against because he’s an Iranian Muslim, and that he was fired after he questioned a directive to not share enrollment figures with faculty.

But the university argued that Saffari was fired because he repeatedly failed to produce a comprehensive enrollment management plan that would have better predicted enrollment numbers.

The St. Cloud Times reports that U.S. District Judge Michael Davis dismissed the lawsuit last week, essentially justifying Saffari’s firing.

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