The former head of Syracuse University’s Human Resources department, as well as several School of Visual and Performing Arts employees, are named in a discrimination lawsuit filed by a professor fired in 2014.

Elizabeth Fowler, who was a tenure-track associate professor in VPA’s Department of Foundation, sued the university in February alleging that she was fired due to several disability and pregnancy related absences. SU has denied all wrongdoing.

The case is headed to trial in July 2016 and is currently in the discovery phase. Fowler said in a statement she plans to depose, or gather testimony from, Kal Alston, former senior vice president for human capital development, VPA Dean Ann Clarke, VPA Associate Dean Arthur Jensen and VPA Associate Professor Joanna Spitzner.

Alston, Clarke and Jensen declined to comment. Spitzner also declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said she and Fowler were friends and colleagues during her time at SU, adding that the process “saddens” her.

Fowler, who is representing herself in the lawsuit, claims that SU used her leaves of absence from 2008-2009 and 2010-2011 against her when evaluating her for tenure and continued employment. This led her to believe SU violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the New York Human Rights Act and a section of the Civil Rights Act dealing with pregnancy discrimination.

Court records show that for five months, both parties entered mediation in an attempt to possibly settle the suit out of court. In July, the parties terminated mediation. Fowler said this was because the parties couldn’t agree on a financial settlement.

Fowler said she requested that the university produce emails between individuals involved in the case. These and other documents, she said, affirm her claims of alleged “egregious illegal actions” and “flagrant discriminatory actions” on behalf of the university.

SU must produce those documents by Sept. 15 — a date that was set after the university received a two-week extension, according to a document filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.

Kevin Quinn, SU’s senior vice president for public affairs, declined to comment on the lawsuit. He added that SU has “very strong” policies on Employment Non-Discrimination, specifically dealing with disability and parental leave.

SU is one of many employers nationwide that face discrimination lawsuits — in 2014, 88,778 discrimination lawsuits were filed in the U.S., according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s website.

But of those tens of thousands of lawsuits, only a fraction of them end up with rulings in the plaintiff’s favor. Between 1979 and 2006, only 15 percent of employment discrimination cases ruled in the plaintiff’s favor, compared to 51 percent in all other types of cases, according to a 2009 study by the Harvard Law and Policy Review.

The study also showed that cases that appear to obviously favor one party “tend to settle readily,” such as through mediation, in an effort to avoid the expensive costs associated with going to trial.

Published on September 7, 2015 at 10:53 pm

Contact Annie: apalme05@syr.edu