A former project coordinator at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey has sued the embattled medical school over her termination this year.

The former employee, Carol Caprarola, claims that she was fired in May after warning university officials that they were engaged in illegal conduct involving political contributions. The termination occurred after she testified before a federal grand jury and after a critical memo she wrote was published in The Star-Ledger of Newark.

“U.M.D.N.J. hired political hacks who viewed the public’s resources as a political slush fund,” Ms. Caprarola’s attorney, Charles Sciarra, told The Star-Ledger for Saturday’s editions. “Carol wrote an unambiguous memorandum warning against funding political campaigns with U.M.D.N.J. money. She later assisted the federal government’s probe. For her efforts, she was terminated.”

According to documents obtained by The Star-Ledger through the Open Public Records Act, the university contributed nearly $60,000 to state and local political officials from a “community events fund.” The largest checks went to the Democratic Senate Majority, the political action committee that funds Democratic campaigns in the state.

Ms. Caprarola, a former assistant to Acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco, was hired by the university in 2002 as a government affairs project coordinator, a position that paid $74,641 a year, to act as a liaison with elected officials in Trenton and Washington.

In early May, university officials said they were laying off 14 people to cut back some administration staff.

Ms. Caprarola’s lawsuit contends she was fired only after she warned officials that they were engaging in illegal conduct. The suit also claims that she was asked to develop a plan to finance political donations, and that she did so but advised caution.

In the published memo, she wrote that the law “certainly supports the consideration of removing ourselves now from the business of political contributions. The climate is perfect for us to just say ‘no.’ ”