Eastern Connecticut State University. Courtesy Photo

A lawsuit by a tenure-track assistant professor of Spanish at Eastern Connecticut State University claims an immediate supervisor sabotaged her career, which led to the provost not renewing her contract.

In the lawsuit filed Thursday in Hartford Superior Court, Luna Najera alleged assistant professor Kin Chan used a handful of students to criticize Najera and give her poor reviews. It claims this effort contributed to interim Provost William Salka submitting a letter in December, indicating his final decision not to renew Najera's contract. The move came despite what the lawsuit says had been prior praise from students and others about Najera's work performance.

But the suit alleges Chan, who chairs the Department Evaluation Committee at the Willimantic-based university, “selectively exploited sex-biased student comments that were handwritten by some students on the back of student opinion forms.”

“By cherry-picking and exaggerating those sex-biased comments, disregarding favorable student comments, and ignoring the very positive data from the student opinion surveys, defendant Chan was sexually discriminating against the plaintiff,” the complaint claimed.

Najera, 44, made about $134,000 a year at the university. Her attorney, Howard, Kohn, Sprague & FitzGerald managing partner Jamie Sullivan, said he believes Chan targeted his client because Najera is a successful woman.

“He had it out for her,” Sullivan said. “It's fair to say he was sabotaging her career. No matter what she would have done, he was not going to recommend renewing her contract.”

A Manchester resident, Najera was hired as assistant professor of Spanish in the Department of World Languages and Cultures in August 2016. She is still working at the university under contract, but her end date was unclear at press time.

Sullivan told the Connecticut Law Tribune that Chan “is a misogynist who has difficulty with women. He was jealous of her because she was a performing academic who published, attended conferences and did all the things that tenure-bound professors are supposed to do to get tenure. On the other hand, he did none of those things.”

The lawsuit cites several examples of alleged sexist behavior by Chan. They include, the lawsuit says, the teaching of sexist phrases such as, translated from Spanish, “The whore that gave birth to you.” The lawsuit also claims Chan used a handout containing sexually predatory content dealing specifically with stalking.

Chan referred all comment Thursday to the interim provost, who did not respond to a request for comment. But university spokesman Edward Osborn told the Connecticut Law Tribune that school policy prohibits commenting on personnel matters. The university, as of Thursday afternoon, did not have attorneys assigned to the case.

Among other claims, Najera's lawsuit alleged Chan “discouraged students from doing directed study courses.” Sullivan said university officials ”just rubber-stamped what Chan wanted.”

The lawsuit also names as a defendant ECSU President Elsa Nunez, whose name has been bandied about as a possible candidate to take over administration of the entire university system.

“The president was presented with the opportunity to vindicate an individual … who was wrongfully terminated,” Sullivan said. “She did not do that.”

Of Najera, Sullivan said: “She has a remarkable background. She grew up in poverty in Guatemala and had to overcome a great deal of adversity. Her parents were uneducated and she excelled academically through college and graduate school. She is the type of person you'd want to give tenure to.”

The lawsuit cites two counts: employment discrimination in violation of the Connecticut General Stature, and violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It seeks punitive and other damages.