INDIANAPOLIS (WOWO): A former IPFW Chancellor has lost his appeal in a failed defamation case.

In 2012, Michael Wartell was forced to resign by Purdue University by a little-used policy that required high-level administrators to retire at 65. Wartell appealed to then-Purdue Chancellor France Cordova, but a local businessman filed a letter in opposition to Wartell's request, saying that Wartell had a lack of integrity and didn't always live up to his word. 

Wartell sued the businessman, Larry Lee, in Allen Superior Court. A judge sided with Lee in October, and the Journal-Gazette is reporting that an appeals court agreed with the case's dismissal Monday, saying that Lee's statements were vague and not verifiable. 

Wartell can still appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court.