Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) and one of its faculty members must continue to defend parts of a lawsuit alleging reverse discrimination against a White assistant professor of management, a federal judge in Greensboro, North Carolina, has ruled.
Dr. Melissa Mann, who filed the case, joined WSSU in 2010. She contends that the university has a “longstanding culture and problem with harassment of some non-African American employees by certain members of the School of Business.”
The suit accuses WSSU of “maliciously” preventing her from getting tenure, promotion and raises while “less qualified” Black faculty members did receive raises.
Specifically, Mann alleges that a tenured African-American full professor in the department created a hostile work environment and used her position on the WSSU tenure committee to discriminate. That alleged misconduct includes a “string of hostile, false and derogatory emails” about Mann, as well as threats and bullying.
The employment discrimination and retaliation suit also accuses the university administration of failing to take adequate steps to end the hostile work environment. However, Mann acknowledged that WSSU did take some “remedial steps,” such as removing the colleague from discussions of Mann’s personnel matters and admonishing the colleague to stop sending “venomous” emails.
In his decision, U.S. District Judge William Osteen Jr. said a trial is necessary to resolve some of the allegations.
Mann “has stated plausible claims of discrimination and retaliation under Title VII against WSSU and under Section 1981 and Section 1983 against” the colleague, Osteen said. He also allowed Mann to seek punitive damages from the colleague.
