|
« AAUP Homepage
|
Jury Grants Award in Retaliation Suit
In November a federal jury awarded $353,000 to Gwenn Okruhlik, a former professor at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, who alleged that male colleagues in the university's Middle East studies department had made discriminatory and sexually derogatory remarks about her and had conspired to discredit her work. Okruhlik charged that university administrators had not only tolerated the situation, but had also retaliated against her for complaining by denying her tenure bid. She also alleged gender discrimination.
The jury found that the university had not discriminated against her because of her gender, but agreed that officials had tolerated a hostile atmosphere and had engaged in retaliation because of her claims of gender discrimination and a hostile environment, and because she complained that the department was mismanaged. The university, which denies discriminating against Okruhlik and says she was denied tenure because she had an inadequate number of publications, has asked the judge to set aside the jury's verdict.
|