Oklahoma Jury Awards Transgender Professor $1.1 Million in Tenure-Denial Discrimination Suit

In 2015 we blogged about a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice on behalf of a transgender professor, Rachel Tudor, who was denied tenure by her institution Southeastern Oklahoma State University.  At the time, we found it noteworthy that DOJ was taking the position that Title VII's prohibition on sex discrimination necessarily includes discrimination that targets someone for their transgender status, and we noted that a favorable outcome in this case would benefit transgender litigants under Title IX as well. 

2015 seems like a bygone era when it comes to the government's enforcement of civil rights, so it is particularly heartening to report that yesterday a jury of eight Oklahomans found in Tudor's favor and awarded her $1.165 million in damages. They reportedly found that the University was liable on three counts: denying Tudor the opportunity to apply for tenure in 2009-10 because of her gender, denying her again the following year because of her gender, and retaliating against her after she complained about workplace discrimination.

This really is a big deal.  A member of Tudor's legal team noted that this is the first transgender discrimination case under Title VII to make it to a jury trial. For her to win -- bigly -- in court that drew its jurors from a state not exactly known for being progressive on LGBT rights, shows that the law and culture are both shifting in favor of a necessary and expansive view of civil rights. 

DOJ Challenges Discrimination Against Transgender Professor

The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Southeastern Oklahoma State University on behalf of a transgender professor who did not receive tenure after she transitioned on the job.  The university had hired Professor Rachel Tudor in 2004 to a tenure-track position in the English Department.  At the time, she presented as a man and went by a traditionally male name.  In 2007, she came out as transgender and began cultivating a female appearance consistent with her gender identity. She was later terminated in 2011 after having been denied tenure by the university.

She then filed a complaint with the EEOC, the federal agency that enforces employment discrimination laws. The EEOC investigated the case and determined that there was reasonable cause to believe that discrimination occurred.  When a settlement could not be reached at that point, the Justice Department agreed to litigate the case, as part of what the agency is calling a "joint effort to enhance collaboration between the EEOC and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division for vigorous enforcement of Title VII."  The case also provides the Justice Department an opportunity to put into action the position it outlined in a memorandum last December, in which it interpreted "discrimination on the basis of sex" to include discrimination on the basis of "gender identity and transgender status."  This expansive view of sex discrimination goes even farther than the protection some courts have found for transgender plaintiffs on the basis of gender nonconformity or the fact of their gender transition.  

The lawsuit contains several allegations that support the inference that the university's tenure decision was motivated by discrimination. For one, Professor Tudor had been recommended for tenure by her department chair.  At this university, such recommendations are routinely followed, yet in Tudor's case, the Dean overrode the decision.  Also, the lawsuit alleges that someone in the human resources department told Tudor that the Dean asked HR whether it would be permissible to fire Tudor because her "transgender lifestyle" offended his religious beliefs. 

While the case is filed under Title VII, Title VII decisions in the realm of sex discrimination are very influential in Title IX cases.  So a positive outcome in this case could translate to expanded federal protection for transgender students as well.