Former head of Wistar sues over ousting

Claims age discrimination A former long-time director of the Wistar Institute filed suit against the institute in federal court last week, charging Wistar officials with age discrimination in their decision to oust him as director last April. Plaintiff Hilary Koprowski argues in the suit that the institute forced him to step down because of his age -- 74 at the time -- even though a peer review board gave him high performance ratings as recently as 1989. The suit also cites Wistar's 1986 retirement policy which provides that "any termination of employment will be on the basis of . . . [performance evaluations] . . . and not on the basis of the employee's age." The Wistar Institute is a leading biomedical research facility located on campus, but separate from the University. The institute works closely with the University through adjunct faculty and research projects. The University Trustees approve the Wistar board members. The 18-page complaint portrays Koprowski as a scientist who brought prestige and success to Wistar over the years, only to be dumped unceremoniously after what Koprowski claims was "a discriminatory course of conduct designed to force [his] removal from the directorship because of his age . . . ." Koprowski further alleges that Wistar officials have carried out a campaign of "harassment and retaliation" against him since September when he filed complaints with state and federal agencies to protest his removal. The suit claims that in response to Koprowski's complaints, Wistar officials have engineered his removal as primary investigator for a cancer research grant, removed him as director of Wistar's Cancer Center, which he headed for 20 years, and deprived him of staff and responsibilities. Koprowski, a microbiologist who directed the institute from 1957 until last April, is demanding that Wistar reinstate him as director and end the alleged unfair treatment. Thomas Sprague, Koprowski's attorney, declined to comment on the details of the case yesterday. None of the three defendants -- Wistar, Wistar President Robert Fox and current Wistar Director Giovanni Rovera -- could be reached for comment yesterday. The institute is being represented by a lawyer in an outside Philadelphia law firm, Pepper, Hamilton and Scheetz. The lawyer could not be reached for comment yesterday. But Sprague said the defendants have about one week to file a response. Koprowski claims in the suit that he first learned Wistar intended to replace him in November, 1990, when Fox, who is a University Trustee, told Koprowski that a search committee would be appointed to locate a successor. When Koprowski protested and demanded an explanation, the suit contends, Fox told him the decision had nothing to do with Koprowski's job performance, which a peer board had rated highly in a report issued the year before. One month after Koprowski's conversation with Fox, Ira Brind, Wistar's treasurer and a member of the institute's board of managers, told Koprowski that age had been "a factor" in the decision to appoint the search committee, the suit said. That same month, a Wistar executive committee called on the board of managers to begin a selection process for a new director that would likely last "two to three years" and involve "an intensive review" of Wistar. But Koprowski argues in the suit that Fox, "not being satisfied with the prospect of a lengthy process . . . , initiated a campaign to convince" the board of managers that Koprowski "ought to be immediately replaced" because of his age. Last April 5, the board appointed Rovera as the new director, leaving Koprowski with the "titular role" of "president."

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