Former University of Nebraska Regent Robert Prokop has filed a libel lawsuit against the Daily Nebraskan.
Prokop filed the lawsuit against the Daily Nebraskan on Monday in Lancaster County's District Court. He is seeking $700,000 in damages.
In the lawsuit, Prokop claims the Daily Nebraskan made "false, scandalous, illegal, defamatory and malicious" statements against him in an Oct. 24, 2006, staff editorial titled "Regents should be held to ethical standards."
Prokop is seeking $500,000 in general damages, $200,000 in special damages for monetary loss and unspecified punitive damages to be determined by the court.
Prokop, of Wilbur, requested a jury trial in the lawsuit.
No one at Prokop's home answered several phone calls made by the Daily Nebraskan on Wednesday.
The 2006 editorial refers to allegations that Prokop plagiarized portions of a guest column he wrote for the Daily Nebraskan in the 1970s. When Prokop's column was submitted, Daily Nebraskan editors declined to publish it because of the uncertainty surrounding Prokop's research.
The column, however, was forwarded to the Douglas County Gazette, which published the piece.
Prokop said the Daily Nebraskan "inexcusably exposed (him) to public hatred and dislike, contempt and ridicule and impeached (his) honesty, integrity, virtue and reputation as a person" in the suit.
Additionally, Prokop said the Daily Nebraskan tried to tarnish his credibility and prevent him from being elected to the NU Board of Regents by knowingly making false statements.
In the suit, Prokop said he requested a retraction or correction seven days following the editorial's publication in 2006 but received no response from the Daily Nebraskan.
According to a Daily Nebraskan article published on Feb. 10, 1972, "Every paragraph in Prokop's column except the first and last is similar to portions of the first 16 pages of a book, 'Homosexuality: Disease or Way of Life.' " The article said Prokop did not mention the book or its author in his guest column.
In the article, Prokop said he had used the book as a reference for his column.
When the 2006 editorial was published, members of the Daily Nebraskan's editorial board included Jenna Johnson, Mark Karpf, Collin Sullivan, Meredith Grunke, Maggie Stehr, Alex Clark and Stacey Van Zuiden.
None of these staff members currently work for the Daily Nebraskan.
Johnson said she had not seen the lawsuit and asked to have questions referred to Dan Shattil, the Daily Nebraskan's general manager.
Shattil is in Washington, D.C., and said he also has not seen the lawsuit and had no comment.
Eric Hamilton, chairman of the Publications Board and a sophomore political science major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Don Walton, the Daily Nebraskan's professional adviser, also declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Prokop also filed a libel lawsuit against NU Regent Jim McClurg of Lincoln on Monday for comments McClurg made in an interview for an Oct. 26, 2006, Omaha World-Herald article.
When contacted by the Daily Nebraskan on Wednesday, McClurg said he was not aware of Prokop's lawsuit against him.
McClurg said he was also not aware of the lawsuit against the Daily Nebraskan and therefore could not comment on either suit.
Adam Templeton contributed to this report.
katiesteiner@dailynebraskan.com
chrisrosacker@dailynebraskan.com
