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November 10, 2011

Former lecturer files suit

A former faculty member in the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures has filed a federal civil suit against the University alleging discrimination on the basis of race/national origin, gender and age.

Sarah Williams, a U.S.-born, non-Hispanic white woman over 40, who taught Spanish here for 14 years, claims she was harassed by the former department chair and other faculty, falsely accused of undocumented “un-collegial behavior” and unjustly terminated, according to the 21-page complaint filed Nov. 1 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Specifically, Williams’s suit charges that “she was ridiculed for speaking Spanish with a European peninsular accent as opposed to a Latin American accent” and that the “harassment was pervasive and regular.”

The complaint states, “Hispanic faculty members and/or members of Latin American origin were retained and/or offered more favorable positions.”

The suit further alleges that Williams, who achieved the rank of lecturer and served as assistant language coordinator, speaks fluent Spanish, taught upper-level undergraduate Spanish language courses that later were assigned to less-qualified instructors and was relieved of other faculty duties without just cause. The complaint states that she was a “distinguished and well-regarded teacher” who consistently received high student evaluations for the quality of her teaching.

Williams was informed her contract would not be renewed in October 2010 and was terminated in June 2011 after her appeal for renewal was denied, the suit states.

Williams is seeking reinstatement or front pay (money awarded for lost compensation during the period between judgment and reinstatement), back pay and unspecified damages under Title VII, Title IX and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

John Fedele, Pitt associate director of News, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

—Peter Hart

Filed under: Feature,Volume 44 Issue 6

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