Eds: APNewsNow. Will be led.

BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) A District Court judge has denied a motion for a new trial in the case of a Montana State University professor who sued the school for gender discrimination.

In April, a jury ruled against engineering professor Aleksandra Vinogradov, who claimed she was treated differently and paid less than other tenured engineering professors, who are all men.

In seeking a new trial, attorneys for Vinogradov cited jury misconduct, stemming primarily from comments about Vinogradov losing similar lawsuits that were posted on the Bozeman Daily Chronicle's Web site.

Vinogradov's attorneys argued that comments were written under the handle "mbcomstock" were written by a juror. Juror Brandon Comstock said he did not write the comment, but it was probably his father, Michael Comstock, who had.

District Judge Holly Brown ruled there was no evidence that the other jurors knew about the previous lawsuit.

Information from: Bozeman Daily Chronicle, http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 06-16-09 1236CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list