Ohio State and a current employee face a lawsuit alleging that a former employee was fired in part because of her supervisor’s discrimination against white people. | Credit: Lantern file photo
A former Ohio State employee filed a lawsuit against the university and her former supervisor Monday, claiming that her May 2017 firing was, in part, a result of her supervisor’s discrimination against white people.
Mary J. Faure, who served as the Director of the Engineering Technical Communications Programs from 2011 to 2017, claims in her suit that she was fired by Monica Cox, the Chair of the department of Engineering Education since 2016, citing performance issues despite Faure never being disciplined prior to Cox’s hiring. Faure is seeking reinstatement, pay, damages and legal fees.
According to the filing, Cox told Faure during their first formal meeting that she would like to give Faure insight into her background and how it shaped her as a black woman.
“I despise white people,” Cox said, according to the document.
When Faure said that Cox’s comments were “racist” and “unprofessional,” Cox supposedly said that if Faure ever repeated what she had said, Cox would deny it.
The complaint says Faure reported Cox’s comments to human resources consistently, but she was told by the director that she did not want to file a formal complaint because it will “come back on you.”
Faure said that she was fired because she opposed Cox’s behavior and openly discussed her concerns with colleagues.
University spokesman Ben Johnson said that Ohio State officials are “aware of the lawsuit” and are in the process of reviewing it.
Faure and her attorneys did not respond for comment at the time of publication.
