U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker ruled that Dr. Alda Moore presented no direct proof of sex discrimination in her suit against Philander Smith College.
As a result, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker dismissed a sex discrimination suit by Dr. Alda Moore, who joined the college as a psychotherapist in March 2010 and was appointed as an assistant professor in the psychology department later that year.
According to the decision, police arrested Moore at home in September 2012 after neighbors complained that she had pointed gun at them.
After a local newspaper reported about the arrest, the college placed her on unpaid administrative leave pending investigation and “was looking into the matter as a safety precaution for faculty, students, and staff,” Baker said. Moore contends that the college never interviewed her or provided any input into its investigation.
Philander Smith terminated her a month later and hired another woman to replace her. Moore also was banned from campus.
The gender discrimination part of the suit claimed that two male employees whose arrests were also reported in the press had not been terminated, and thus argued that similarly situated male employees weren’t disciplined as harshly or at all for engaging in the same or similar behavior that led to her termination.
One was an assistant professor of English who was charged twice with misdemeanors related to marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession, contempt of court and failure to appear in court. He resigned to take a teaching job in another state, and the college said it had been unaware of his arrests until after he left.
