A former University employee has called into question the settlement agreement in a racial discrimination lawsuit against the University.
Dorothy McCurdy filed a lawsuit in March 2014 alleging she received lower pay, was denied resources to do her job and wasn’t promoted because she is a black woman who reported to white men, according to court documents.
McCurdy started at the University in 1989. In 1995, she was promoted to acting supervisor of work management in the facilities department with eight employees reporting to her. Three years later, she was demoted to a work management specialist, but still had the eight employees reporting to her, according to her complaint.
McCurdy was promoted back to supervisor in 2003, but with two employees reporting to her.
McCurdy requested additional staff and received temporary workers who constantly had to be retrained, according to McCurdy’s complaint.
In 2009, McCurdy requested that she be promoted to a manager, but in her complaint said she was ignored for more than nine months until a meeting between her, Lloyd Albert, director of maintenance, and Rick Traylor, director of human resources.
In the meeting, McCurdy said she was told her position would not be changed, and she asked what the plans were for her office.
“Albert replied that he had no plans, and that Plaintiff McCurdy ‘could go back to where she came from.’ Plaintiff McCurdy took that to be a not-so-subtle racist comment,” McCurdy’s complaint reads.
Lawyers for the University said McCurdy was not promoted because she was not qualified.
“Auburn denies that any employment decisions with respect to the work management department were made for anything other than legitimate, non-discriminatory business reasons,” said John Naramore, an attorney for the University, in a court document.
A settlement reached in the case, but the Montgomery Advertiser reported during a hearing in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama that McCurdy said she didn’t realize she was settling for $60,000.
McCurdy’s lawyers, Julian McPhillips and Christopher Worshek, also filed a motion that they were withdrawing as counsel because of “a large communication gap,” according to court documents.
“(We) believe that the amount of the settlement was excellent, especially in light of the possibilities that summary judgment could have been granted against the plaintiff,” McCurdy’s lawyers said in the motion.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
