The District Court of Oregon last week ruled in favor of a former professor who sued the University and several faculty members for racism and discrimination.
Former assistant professor Paula Rogers filed a complaint against the University and the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures five years ago for “disparate treatment due to race/national origin, hostile work environment and retaliation,” according to a news release from Rogers’ attorneys.
“There was at least one member of the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures who made comments about her race,” said Lauren Regan, one of Rogers’ attorneys.
University spokesperson Jim Barlow said the University and its lawyers are not releasing any official statements at this time. The University is referring media inquiries to the Department of Justice, which represented the University in the case.
“At this point, we represent the University of Oregon and will consult about whether or not they want to appeal,” DOJ spokesperson Tony Green said. “At this point, we’re not making any sort of statement beyond the fact that we’re consulting with our client to determine whether or not they’d like to appeal.”
Defendants of the case include associate professor of Chinese Maram Epstein, human physiology professor Marjorie Woollacott, economics professor Joe Stone, East Asian Languages professor Wendy Larson and former associate professor of Japanese Noriko Fujii.
Epstein and Larson declined to comment on the case until a decision to appeal was made. Woollacott, Stone and Fujii, did not respond to interview requests.
Rogers said one of the department members discriminated against her because of her ethnicity.
“They treated me differently than they treated pure Japanese people,” Rogers said. “Someone in the department treated pure Japanese people better than they treated me.”
Rogers began working at the University in 2001 in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures. She said she started to experience discrimination in 2003, and filed a grievance with the College of Arts and Sciences in 2005.
After Rogers filed the grievance with the College of Arts and Sciences, she said things got worse.
“When she filed a grievance against the U of O, the U of O and the department treated her badly and eventually fired her,” Regan said.
Rogers then proceeded to file a complaint with the Bureau of Labor and Industries, which ruled in her favor in some allegations in November 2006.
The lawsuit was filed in the District Court of Oregon in 2007. On Feb. 10, a 10-person jury awarded Rogers more than $164,000 plus attorney fees because Rogers provided substantial evidence that she experienced discrimination.
The jury found Rogers’ claims against Epstein, Woollacott, Stone and Larson to be unsubstantiated.
“I hope the U of O will take steps to ameliorate the situation against minority faculty,” Rogers said. “If they had just reinstated me, they wouldn’t have had to spend so much money on this, and now there’s an official verdict against them, which is serious.”

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