Another lawsuit has emerged in the aftermath of presidential hires at Jackson State University.

Jerome Tinker, who serves in a leadership position in JSU’s Alumni Affairs office, is suing former president Marcus Thompon and the university in federal court for being turned down for the position of office director.

The lawsuit, filed Dec. 12, represents one side of a legal argument. It says Thompson instructed Monica Lewis, then interim vice president of institutional advancement, not to select Tinker as the interim director of Alumni Affairs or for the permanent post even though as alumni engagement officer he was second in command. The lawsuit alleges Thompson’s motivation was retaliation because Tinker had reported the “unlawful conduct toward a female employee” by Thompson’s predecessor, Thomas Hudson.  

“We are aware of the lawsuit and do not comment on pending litigation,” said John Sewell, communications director for the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees, which oversees the state’s eight public universities.

Thompson could not be reached for comment.

The lawsuit alleges that Thompson, who was then working for IHL, was tasked with investigating the allegations against Hudson. It identifies Thompson as Hudson’s “friend and confidante.”

 “Thompson did not interview the female employee during his so-called investigation. Thompson also was aware of Tinker’s complaint to IHL that Hudson attempted to dissuade him in January of 2023 from suing Hudson and JSU retaliation,” according to the lawsuit

Tinker applied for the director position in November 2024. Lewis and Patrease Edwards, president of the JSU National Alumni Association, interviewed the applicants. According to the lawsuit, Lewis told Thompson that Tinker was one of her top choices, but Thompson ordered her not to offer him the position. When she refused to name someone else, Thompson replaced her as the interim vice president with Sloan Cargill, even though a selection committee had chosen her.

Tinker reapplied for Alumni Affairs director when Cargill re-advertised the position, and Thomspn directed Cargill not to select Tucker, according to the lawsuit. The position remains open.

Hudson resigned as president on March 15, 2023. The IHL Board of Trustees appointed Thompson as his successor on Nov. 16, 2023, and he resigned for unstated reasons in May. The IHL board is in a presidential search process now for his successor.

Tinker seeks either instatement to the position of Alumni Affairs director or front pay, equitable back pay, economic damages for his lost pay and fringe benefits, together with compensatory and punitive damages against Thompson for intentional retaliation as determined by a jury. 

In the aftermath of the Hudson and Thompson presidential selections, IHL has faced two lawsuits, one settled for an undisclosed amount and the other winding its way through federal court.

Debra Mays-Jackson, former vice president and chief of staff at Jackson State University, is suing the board of trustees, alleging that despite being qualified to lead Jackson State, she was passed over in 2023 in favor of Hudson, who had less experience. 

IHL trustees had claimed qualified immunity, a legal protection from liability for government officials, in an effort to dismiss the case. But last week, a federal appears court said the sex discrimination case can go forward.

Over the summer, the board and JSU settled a months-long federal lawsuit filed by a former faculty senate president whom Thompson placed on leave pending termination in fall 2024. The settlement gave Dawn Bishop McLin her job back as a tenured professor.  

The exact circumstances of Bishop’s termination were never released, but members of the faculty senate executive committee said she was apparently placed on leave without any written warning and accused of harassment, malfeasance and “contumacious conduct,” a term stemming from IHL policies that means insubordination. 

A faculty panel reviewed the university’s basis for McLin’s termination and recommended she be reinstated, but Thompson never responded, leaving Bishop in a state of limbo.