The Southern University System’s former special assistant and counsel to the president has lost a Title VII retaliation and age discrimination suit stemming from elimination of her position.
A federal judge in Baton Rouge found insufficient evidence that Frances Smith’s testimony in a 2007 sexual harassment case against the university’s board of supervisors was the reason Southern terminated her in 2009.
According to the decision, then-President Dr. Ralph Slaughter asked Smith for advice about the university’s sexual harassment policy in 2007. The situation involved allegations of sexual harassment by a board member. Smith testified at a hearing in the related litigation.
In 2009, the board did not renew Slaughter’s contract and named Dr. Kassie Freeman as interim president.
Freeman then developed a reorganization plan that included budget and personnel cuts. That plan eliminated Smith’s position and created an executive counsel position instead. At the time, Smith was 64 and replaced by a 47-year-old woman.
In dismissing the discrimination case, U.S. District Judge James Brady said Smith’s testimony in the sexual harassment litigation was “protected activity” under Title VII.
Even so, Smith failed to substantiate the allegation that Southern terminated her two years later in retaliation for that testimony, Brady said, and Smith’s “subjective belief concerning a vague comment she overheard” isn’t enough to let that claim go to trial.
