Retaliation by ‘black power’ dean, evidence destroyed
A state appeals court upheld a jury verdict of nearly $5 million – three-quarters of that punitive damages – against an historically black college for discriminating against a white employee.
One of its many sins that were meticulously laid out by the court? Deleting incriminating emails from the senior official who targeted the white employee.
Beverly Wilkins, a white woman from a poor family, steadily rose through the ranks of Missouri’s Harris-Stowe State University, from adjunct to full-time instructor (off the tenure track). She had regular contract renewals for eight years and “excellent reviews” within her majority-black Teacher Education Department, according to the appeals court’s summary.
When Latisha Smith was temporarily made co-chair of the department, “a faculty member” complained to top university officials that Smith had “repeatedly proclaimed her belief in ‘black power'” and her “flagrant prejudice should not be tolerated or accepted.” One of those officials told the complainer to drop it or any chance at tenure “would be jeopardized.”
Smith was later made dean, becoming Wilkins’ supervisor, and she apparently exacted her revenge by putting Wilkins’ name on a termination list as part of a budget-neutral “reorganization” that saw two faculty members dumped and their positions rehired later.
Harris-Stowe is required by its own policies to terminate non-adjunct instructors with less seniority – two of which, both African Americans, had less than Wilkins – yet the university refused to tell her why she was dumped. Despite acknowledging that Wilkins had accused them of race discrimination, the university never investigated her claims, which also violated its own rules.
Though Wilkins was initially allowed to finish teaching her summer course, her students asked if she was getting fired, and she acknowledged to them her daughter was an attorney.
http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/33400/
The university fired her a week later and told her to leave campus immediately, for “inappropriate activities” it refused to detail yet put in her permanent employment file.
Officials testified that they heard Wilkins was telling students she would sue the university and “impede” its accreditation process, yet they never identified students making these allegations nor investigated “to discover the truth of these claims,” again contrary to its own policies, the court’s summary reads.
“In this period of budget cutting” when Harris-Stowe was trying to plug a fiscal hole, it quickly hired two black professors to replace Wilkins, costing the school an extra $23,000. One was explicitly described as “black” in an official’s email proposing her for the position.
After Wilkins sued for discrimination and retaliation and the trial court ordered the university to preserve Smith’s email account, its board deleted her email account. The judge punished the school by deeming “admitted” that Smith had said she wanted to make the department “blacker” and recommended Wilkins’ termination.
The jury was apparently affected by Wilkins’ testimony that after she was fired, a university official “personally escorted” her to her cubicle, “rifled” through her files and “ripped pictures off the wall,” and refused to explain the rationale for her firing.
The same treatment had been given to a professor who had lied about “a previous child-molestation conviction.” Wilkins was never able to find education work in the St. Louis area that was not only related to her position at Harris-Stowe, but would not involve substantially longer hours and much higher stress levels.
Much of the ruling is highly technical, regarding the trial judge’s jury instructions and the appeals court’s jurisdiction.
Courthouse News Service reports that the university alleged the trial court was wrong to: let the jury allow “future damages,” let Wilkins cite “an irrelevant state law,” allow a “grossly excessive” award for compensatory damages, and allow the jury to consider punitive damages and then not overturn its award.
The appeals court denied every objection. It strongly rebuked the university for calling Wilkins’ evidence of continuing emotional suffering “sparse” and claiming she could have gotten another education job, despite how the school sabotaged her employment prospects.
It was particularly contemptuous of the university’s claim that Wilkins herself has said she taught “primarily to help instruct future teachers,” not for the money:
We reject the Board’s contention that, because Wilkins was deeply motivated to work at HSSU to shape and guide future educators, she somehow is not entitled to damages as a result of the Board’s discriminatory and unlawful conduct. We instead find that Wilkins’s [sic] termination – from a position that was a significant component of her life – increased her intangible damages and did not limit the recovery of her economic losses.
The school said it was still reviewing the ruling.
I wonder if the college will end up paying.
>>148219
This really sucks. She is entitled to compensation, especially after they essentially tarred her record to the point she will never get another job of the same level. I wonder if this goes higher up and a precedent is set to charge deletion of emails after a warrant is filed will have any effect on the ongoing Clinton Investigation.
>>148261
They should. The only thing that worries me is that it is a state univeristy which means that the tax payers will end up paying a decent portion. Also making the students suffer due to terrible decisions of the administrators does suck as well. Hopefully this will lead to public outcry and removal of the people who allowed it to happen.
>>148219
Theres far less racism, sexism today than 50 years ago and minorities and women are going off the fucking rails with this PC shit
God damn niggers.
>>148219
A stupid question: why there still black colleges? Or even white ones for that matter
>>148360
There are no white colleges in the US, only "historical black colleges"
>>148360
I don't like the idea of single-race colleges too. I'm black and got a $40,000 scholarship to an all-black college and turned it down. Why would I want to segregate myself?
>>148373
amusingly segregation is now the PC thing to do.
see: "safe spaces" "all-black events" etc.
which i guess is fine with me. as long as they build their own parallel society.
>>148373
It's an odd thing. I grew up thinking race was the "paint color" and what mattered was the build and make of a person. Seems like we're all reverting back.
>>148400
>Implying that race is not an indicator of a person's physical capacity and character
>>148219
>One of those officials told the complainer to drop it or any chance at tenure “would be jeopardized.”
There's not even a space given to discuss something such as this. It's simply "shut up" or we'll threaten you.
Blacks are the most racist demographic.
True or False?
>>148404
False, they are just less subtle about it.
>>148404
https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2013/07/03/poll-finds-black-americans-more-likely-to-be-seen-as-racist
Poll shows 37% respondents believe black Americans are racist
Only 18% of Hispanics and 15% whites are seen as racist
Black Americans polled that black Americans are more racist than other demographics
http://m.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/july_2013/more_americans_view_blacks_as_racist_than_whites_hispanics
INB4 "systemic racism" is actually just poor vs wealthy people and has nothing to do with race
>>148367
>There are no white colleges in the US
I'm going to start calling regular colleges "historically white."
>>148469
If they're colleges in the US that are not historically black, then they're virtually de facto historically white.
>>148472
Sure, a predominantly white demographic country has predominantly white people in most colleges
americans are weird,
how can that argument between two bitches warrant a 5$mil handout from the university?
how would the american justice evolve if its all about money and wuz
>>148478
I imagine they looked at what the salary of the position she was wrongfully fired from was (probably 6 figures) and her ability to seek employment. Since the school effectively destroyed any opportunity of finding a new position through firing and then black marking her record she is entitled to compensation based on her former salary and potential future salary which were wrongfully denied her.
Almost every first world country has similar laws in place in order to protect workers, so it is not just an "American thing."
>>148360
>>148373
Because the schools aren't black only? Much like conservative colleges, the school just caters to X crowd but cannot turn down Y. Hence why you do get white/hispanic/etc kids going to historically black schools.
Hell its not uncommon for whites to goto to these schools specifically because they can qualify for minority scholarships/AA for them.
But its easier to pretend ignorance on subject than actual research.
>>148486
Goddamn so fuckin salty, chill
>>148480
noo
>black marking?
rather the african college smeared itself.
>oppurtunity for new position?
what black marked file?
unless shes conviced for racis. after amending the blacks discrimination she should have a clean slate?
i c
she was unemployed and was then reimbursed with bonus
>>148513
Maybe read the entire body of text Next time faggot
>>148513
>The university fired her a week later and told her to leave campus immediately, for “inappropriate activities” it refused to detail yet put in her permanent employment file.
Good luck getting work without references and accusations of some unknown 'misconduct' from your previous employer.
>>148472
That was the joke, friend.
>>148850
>friend
Ugh...
>>148494
Nice damage control.
>>148888
You don't know the meaning of the phrase
>>148373
>niggers don't go school lol
>>149905
Kekked hard