University Times

Pitt has filed a motion asking the U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh to dismiss a race and sex discrimination lawsuit by the Johnstown campus's affirmative action director.

Lawyers for UPJ Affirmative Action Director Clea Hollis responded last week by filing their own motion, reiterating that her case has merit.

A U.S. District Court judge will decide whether the lawsuit proceeds.

Hollis, who is African American, filed a civil action July 23 against UPJ and its president, Albert Etheridge, charging them with harassment, discrimination and retaliation. After Etheridge became UPJ president in 1994, the lawsuit states, Hollis was demoted from the president's cabinet to a mid-level post, her hours were cut to part-time, she was excluded from campus functions and her office was moved from the president's complex.

Hollis claims she was harassed because she protested her demotion and disagreed with Etheridge's views on affirmative action. According to Hollis, Etheridge gave lip service to affirmative action in public but told her privately that he would do everything possible to avoid implementing its principles, contrary to Pitt policy.

Attorneys for Etheridge and Hollis have advised them not to comment publicly. Pitt's administration makes it a policy not to comment on cases in litigation, but issued a statement last month maintaining that Hollis had been treated fairly and denying that the University or any of its administrators had acted in a discriminatory manner.