Former Elon Accounting Professor Files Federal Lawsuit Over VITA Whistleblowing

Ray A. Knight, a former tenure-track accounting professor identified by Alamance News as “of Winston-Salem,” filed a federal lawsuit in early February alleging Elon University retaliated against him after he reported that another faculty member provided students answers to IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance certification exams. TheTimesNews reports the complaint was filed in U.S. District Court on Feb. 4; an Instagram post linked to the filing gives a Feb. 6 date.

The lawsuit says Knight was director of Elon’s VITA program when he learned in 2021 that a colleague had given students the answers to the IRS certification exams required to volunteer. One week after Knight reported that information to the department chairman, the suit asserts, he was replaced as director of the VITA program that “offers free basic tax return preparation to individuals with low-to-moderate incomes, people with disabilities, the elderly, and limited English speakers.”

Knight’s complaint alleges a formal written complaint followed in February 2022 when he took the matter to the dean and Elon’s human relations office. The suit says he submitted his tenure application the following fall; his faculty evaluator “issued a glowing recommendation,” but the dean issued a negative recommendation and he was denied tenure in March 2023. NewsBreak and Alamance News characterize that tenure denial as effectively a firing; the federal complaint frames the denial as retaliation tied to his whistleblowing.

The lawsuit includes specific allegations about statements by department leaders. It asserts that the current accounting department chair, Dr. Catherine Chiang, told another accounting professor, Joseph Lakatos, that Knight “would be gone in two years” because he “was of that age,” and later told Lakatos that Knight “would not be granted tenure.” The complaint also alleges that Daniel Lanier, then-chairman of the accounting department, criticized Knight’s publication record as “worthless, despite [his] being the most productive scholar in the department.”

Filing details in the local reporting are limited. TheTimesNews lists the suit as filed in U.S. District Court on Feb. 4 and its story page shows an updated timestamp of February 24, 2026 at 1:07 am; the Instagram post states Feb. 6. The complaint is reported to assert unlawful retaliation, wrongful termination and violations of federal whistleblower protections, and one source contains a truncated reference to North Ca that is incomplete in the excerpts available.

The suit centers on conduct tied to the university’s VITA program and on tenure procedures within the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business accounting department. If the allegations in Knight’s complaint are proven, they could affect trust in the student-run tax-preparation program that serves Burlington-area residents in lower-income and vulnerable populations, the suit notes. The federal lawsuit remains pending in U.S. District Court and will determine whether the actions Knight describes violated whistleblower and employment laws.