U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken rejected a defense request to dismiss the Section 1981 civil rights suit filed by David Okor, who claims the college discriminated by repeatedly refusing to promote him to a full-time position.
The suit originally also alleged national origin and age discrimination but Okor dropped those claims.
According to the decision, Okor joined the adjunct business faculty in 1985. The same year, he allegedly began to ask about full-time opportunities but was falsely told that there was a budget-related job freeze in effect for full-time professors, despite the fact that the college did make such hires.
He continued to ask unsuccessfully for a promotion through 2012. Meanwhile, the college promoted a White female adjunct “with fewer qualifications to teach business” to a full-time opening in 2011, the suit contends.
The college and department head moved for dismissal on the grounds that Okor waited too long to sue and that the suit was “implausible.”
In his decision, Oetken said it would be premature to toss out the case because of a factual uncertainty about whether a promotion would have meant a substantial salary increase for Okor and a change in his “privileges, responsibilities and status, both within the Business Department and at BMCC more generally.”
