A judge has taken a preliminary step toward allowing a professor suing the University of Illinois over the loss of a job offer to pursue a claim the university destroyed evidence.
U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber decided Thursday to allow Steven Salaita to amend his lawsuit to include the previously dismissed claim that administrators deleted emails pertinent to the case.
The decision, though, does not guarantee the claim will remain part of the lawsuit.
Salaita's attorneys at the Center for Constitutional Rights say the university could again challenge it and the judge would have to reconsider it.
The university last year rescinded Salaita's job offer over a series of anti-Israel messages on Twitter.