Tennessee State University has won part of a race and gender bias suit filed by a female African-American financial aid counselor who was passed over for promotion, but it still faces a Nov. 12 jury trial in federal court on her retaliation claim.
The case was brought by Zakia Smith, who was hired in 2008 and applied unsuccessfully for promotion to a position as coordinator of state and private funds. A selection committee ranked her first and recommended that she be hired, court documents say. However, TSU’s financial aid director selected a White man whom the committee had ranked second, saying he was better-suited for the job.
Smith’s lawyer, Brian Winfrey of Nashville, said the judge missed “our real argument that she had superior qualifications across the board,” including superior education and extensive financial aid experience.
The suit also claims Smith was later demoted to a lower-paying, less prestigious call center job and harassed in retaliation for filing an internal grievance and an EEOC discrimination complaint.
“We have direct evidence of retaliation,” Winfrey said. Smith “was demoted from a trained financial aid professional to a switchboard operator.”
U.S. District Judge Todd Campbell found no need for a trial on the question of whether TSU’s hiring decision was based on race or gender, ruling that Smith “has not shown that she was a plainly superior candidate such that no reasonable employer would have chosen” the male applicant instead.
