FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Julian T. Tynes Chairman
Sunila Thomas‐George Commissioner
Jamie R. Williamson Commissioner
UMASS‐DARTMOUTH ORDERED TO PAY DAMAGES IN DISCRIMINATION CASE
Boston, MA – June 15, 2011 – On June 1, 2011, an MCAD hearing officer issued a decision in the case of LuLu Sun v. University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in favor of Professor Sun, an Associate Professor of English at UMass‐Dartmouth, who filed a claim of discrimination based on her gender, race, and Chinese ancestry. The Hearing Officer took the unprecedented step of ordering the promotion of Professor Sun to full Professor as well as awarding her $154,503.30 in lost wages and $200,000.00 in emotional distress damages.
Professor Sun asserted that she was treated less favorably than other candidates for promotion to full Professor within the University’s Humanities Division. According to the Hearing Officer, school administrators ignored Professor Sun’s outstanding teaching evaluations and cutting‐edge research, mischaracterized her dossier as an “embarrassment,” and indulged in every presumption against her application for promotion while extending every benefit of the doubt to male candidates for promotion. After Professor Sun refused to withdraw her application in response to pressure from administrators, she was penalized by having her request for travel funding denied and her course releases withdrawn.
Tel: (617) 994-6000 TTY: (617) 994-6196 Fax: (617) 994-6024
On the basis of the school’s discriminatory and retaliatory actions, the MCAD imposed a $10,000.00 civil penalty on the school.
Contact information:
Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination
Barbara Green, Press Liaison One Ashburton Place, Room 601, Boston, MA 02108 617‐994‐6147 phone/ 617‐994‐6153 fax Barbara.Green@state.ma.us http://www.mass.gov/mcad
No comments:
Post a Comment