University Times

A former tenured professor in Pitt’s School of Law last week filed an age discrimination civil lawsuit against the University.

In an Aug. 24 filing with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, William J. Brown, 73, alleges that University administrators discriminated against him because of his age by hiring a less-experienced, younger person for a tenured position.

Brown initially was hired by Pitt in 1968 as a tenure-stream faculty member and was awarded tenure less than a year later. After teaching tax and business-related law here for three decades, he retired from Pitt in 2000, accepting a job as director of the graduate tax program at Duquesne University.

According to the complaint, in 2006 Brown was invited to return to the full-time Pitt law faculty by Dean Mary Crossley for the 2006-07 academic year, in order to teach courses for two law professors who were on leave.

The complaint states that Brown “had reason to believe that [one of the on-leave faculty members] would most likely not return from his leave of absence and that therefore a tenure-stream position would become available at the conclusion of the 2006-07 academic year.”

Brown repeatedly made it known to school officials both verbally and in writing of his desire to be hired “for any available tax law professor position,” the complaint states.

Instead, the complaint states, Brown was offered a part-time teaching position for 2007-08, a post that was renewed for 2008-09.

During the academic years 2007-09, Pitt conducted two searches for a tax law professor; in 2009 Pitt hired a woman in her early 30s for a tenure-stream tax law position, the complaint says.

Brown’s part-time contract was not renewed for the 2009-10 year, although the complaint acknowledges that Pitt offered Brown adjunct faculty status with much lower compensation.

The complaint states: “During faculty meetings, and in subsequent discussions, [the school] considered the fact that the median age of the law school faculty had increased, and determined that this was a negative factor that needed to be addressed. … Defendant failed to hire Brown to a tenure-track faculty position for the 2009-10 academic year because of his age in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.”

The complaint notes that Brown’s qualifications include being a three-time winner of the law school’s annual outstanding teaching award, including one as recently as 2008, as well as the 1991 Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award.

According to the complaint, Brown is seeking reinstatement to his previous position as a full-time tenured professor and unspecified compensation for damages and lost wages and benefits.

Pitt Public Affairs spokesperson Patricia Lomando White told the University Times, “The University does not comment on ongoing litigation.”

Brown’s lawyer, Samuel Cordes, did not return a University Times telephone call seeking comment.

—Peter Hart