The University of North Dakota has sued the Internal Revenue Service to recover more than $1.8-million in taxes that the university says it should have been exempt from paying, the Grand Forks Herald reported yesterday.

In the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court, the university argues that its medical-school residents should not be subject to employment taxes because they are students. The lawsuit resembles similar cases, brought by the University of Minnesota and by the Mount Sinai Medical Center of Florida, in which the courts ruled for the universities.

Jon Jensen, a lawyer representing the University of North Dakota, told the newspaper that the size of the claim would increase as more of the affected medical-school residents agreed to participate in the case. Mr. Jensen said he expected the suit would be settled before it went to trial, citing the similar cases that were decided in favor of the universities. —David Shieh