The problem with doing the wrong thing and standing by it is that it makes it difficult when you try to do the right thing down the road.

That’s the pickle in which Northern Illinois University officials could find themselves if they go to court to defend their decision to fire Donald Grady from his $205,987-a-year job as NIU’s police chief.

In a letter to NIU officials Feb. 3, Grady raised an important point: While he is being fired from his job, six people who have been indicted on felony charges stemming from work-related conduct have been welcomed back. (Grady has been named along with the university in a lawsuit filed by a former NIU police officer, but lawsuits are much easier to file than criminal charges.)