The Oregon Attorney General’s office is working to settle a lawsuit alleging the University and Provost John Moseley discriminated against a former University administrator based on his race.
Joseph Wade, who served as director of academic advising and student services from 1985 to 1999, filed the civil rights suit in June after he was fired by Moseley, ostensibly because Moseley was not satisfied with Wade’s supervision of the Special Academic Support for Student Athletes unit.
Moseley and the Attorney General’s office declined to comment on the specifics of the case, but the 63-year-old Wade claims that he was fired in retaliation for a lawsuit he filed against the University in 1996. He dismissed the suggestion that he was fired for doing inadequate work as “a bunch of foolishness.”
Wade said that in 1995, he learned that his division of Student Academic Support and Student Services (now known as Student Affairs) would be reorganized in the wake of Vice Provost Gerry Moseley’s retirement. Three new positions were created, and Wade said he was qualified for and would have applied for any of them, had they not been filled. Wade alleges that the University filled the positions without opening them to other applicants.
Wade felt he had been passed over for promotions and pay raises because he is African-American, so he sued the University.
“In all of our literature and publications, we suggest that the University is an equal opportunity employer,” he said. “This is a classic example where that was not the case.”
The suit was settled in 1998, with the provisions that the University would further its efforts to diversify its workforce and complete a salary review for Wade. But Wade now says that he was subjected to differential treatment after the suit was settled and that the University failed to live up to the terms of the settlement.
“After the original agreement was made, the provost attempted in any way possible to discredit my work,” he said. “There was a suggestion made that the way the University handled academic advising resulted in a high turnover rate for students. That’s not true.”
According to Ken Lehrman, director of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity, lawsuits based on discrimination are extremely rare.
“Partly that’s because these cases are extremely hard to prove,” he said. “But it’s also partly because the University does a good job of not discriminating. And if a case occurs, we do a good job resolving the problem internally.”
However, Wade seems to disagree. His attorney, Suzanne Chanti, filed a complaint with the Lane County Circuit Court, charging the University, Moseley and the state with violating both the United States and Oregon constitutions and the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
On July 18, a motion to stay proceedings was filed, which stated that the parties involved in settlement discussions “would like to further those discussions without being hampered with additional costs of litigation.” According to Kristen Grainger, executive assistant to the Attorney General, a motion to stay proceedings is usually intended to halt official proceedings while the involved parties assess their cases.
Wade, who worked at the University for nearly 30 years, is asking for lost wages (at the rate of $70,000 a year), compensatory and punitive damages in an amount not to exceed $3 million, and reinstatement to his former position.
Leon Tovey is a higher education reporter for the Oregon Daily Emerald. He can be reached at [email protected].