The former interim band director who was denied promotion and tenure at Alabama A&M University has no factual grounds for a gender bias allegation but still can pursue a retaliation claim based on his EEOC charge, a federal judge has ruled.
Senior U.S. District Judge Inge Johnson said the university offered a non-discriminatory reason ― insufficient scholarly or creative work ― to turn down Derrick Yates’ tenure application.
Johnson said Yates failed to show that the university treated him differently from a female colleague.
But Yates doesn’t have to prove that his underlying bias claim was valid to show that the university retaliated again him, she said.
According to the decision, Alabama A&M hired Yates in 1997 as adjunct coordinator of logistics and band equipment. In 2001, he became a full-time tenure-track music instructor and assistant band director.
He first applied for promotion and tenure in 2008 and was rejected for insufficient “scholarly productivity.”
His suit didn’t allege any discrimination in that process or decision by the campus president.
