The lawsuit alleges William Paterson University's unpaid invoices led around 200 marine fossils to be discarded in Tennessee.

On June 18, Becker packaged about 200 fossils into 19 separate boxes, which was about 80% of his collection, the suit says. Each package weighed 20 to 60 pounds, it says. The fossils were taken to the university mailroom that day and given to mailroom supervisor Raymond Boone, who is also named as a defendant, according to the suit.