Northwestern Settles Lawsuit With Former Employee

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern University agreed to settle and dismiss litigation it initiated in July 2014 against Nina Barrett, a former employee of the University Library who is a local author and also the owner of Bookends & Beginnings bookstore in downtown Evanston.

Northwestern sued Barrett in federal court in Chicago when the parties disputed who owned the copyright in a yet-to-be-completed book that examines in depth materials owned and maintained by the library relating to the prosecution of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb for the 1924 murder of Bobby Franks in Chicago. 

The upcoming book takes a fresh look at a much-examined history, drawing heavily on materials housed in the University’s Leopold and Loeb collection. During the 2012-2013 academic year, Barrett worked on the book as a Fellow at the University’s Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities.

As a result of the settlement, the University and Barrett intend to jointly pursue publication of the book and to share ownership of its copyright.