Transgender Professor, Denied Reinstatement After Jury Win, Plans to Appeal
“We think the court was wrong,” Ezra Young said. “This was a situation where Dr. Tudor had a rare job, a tenure-track job, where you don't lose it no matter what. They tried to strip her of that and a jury agreed.”
April 19, 2018 at 07:51 PM
4 minute read
A transgender professor who won a $1.2 million jury verdict for alleged workplace discrimination and retaliation vows to appeal an Oklahoma federal judge's order that denied reinstatement to her former post.
Rachel Tudor, the professor, wanted to return to her tenure-track position at Southeastern Oklahoma State University after winning a jury verdict against the school.
U.S. District Judge Robin Cauthron in the Western District of Oklahoma on April 13 denied reinstatement, as well as Tudor's request for $2 million in payment for loss of her future work opportunities if she could not return. Cauthron granted instead Tudor $60,000 in so-called “front pay.” The university has denied claims that it discriminated or retaliated against Tudor.
Cauthron said Tudor's demand for $2 million in compensation “stretches the bounds of reasonableness beyond recognition.” The judge noted that Tudor got a job at a community college after she left the university and so he rejected the notion that Tudor will be unemployable for the remainder of her professional career.
Tudor's lawyer, Ezra Young, said Tudor will appeal Cauthron's order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Young had argued that a good working relationship between Tudor and Southeastern Oklahoma State University was possible.
“We think the court was wrong,” Young said. “This was a situation where Dr. Tudor had a rare job, a tenure-track job, where you don't lose it no matter what. They tried to strip her of that and a jury agreed.”
The win in November for Tudor represented the first-of-its-kind ruling in a transgender discrimination case that went to full trial. The verdict followed a years-long battle that included intervention by the U.S. Justice Department in 2015—and a later retreat from the case under the Trump administration.
The Justice Department, withdrawing from the case, reached a settlement with the university. The government's settlement agreement required the university to hire an equal opportunity director to oversee policies and to conduct training.
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The government's move to settle followed U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions' decision to drop Obama-era guidance that said gender identity should be protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The new view clashes with some federal appeals court and with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Tudor began working at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in 2004, and at the time she identified as a man. Tudor later began to present as a woman. The lawsuit argued that the university denied Tudor promotions because of her gender identity, transition and non-conformance with gender stereotypes.
“For me, my case has always been about proving that I earned tenure at Southeastern Oklahoma State University and restoring my professional and personal reputation,” Tudor said in a prepared statement. “I worked hard to earn tenure and want to return to my life's work. Ultimately, I am hopeful that the Tenth Circuit will restore my opportunity to regain the life denied me by violating my civil rights.”
The $2 million Tudor requested in front pay included salary, benefits and contributions she said she would have received once she secured the tenured role. The court suggested rather $60,000 to represent the gap between her termination from the university and attaining her new job at Collin College.
Representatives from the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office, which represents the university, didn't immediately respond to request for comment. Lawyers for the university said in court papers they “strongly, and steadfastly, oppose [Tudor's] return to employment” at the school.
Read more:
The US Justice Department Retreated From a Transgender Professor's Case. She Still Won
How PwC Handled Its First Transgender Employee Transition in the Workplace
Trump's EEOC General Counsel Pick Wants New Focus on Individual Cases, Not Systemic
EEOC Takes 'Zarda' LGBT Win on the Road to Another US Appeals Court
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