LITTLE ROCK — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Arkansas Baptist College this week over allegations the school prematurely canceled an employee’s contract and then refused to let her teach classes because she filed a discrimination claim.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Arkansas after pre-litigation negotiations failed, according to a commission news release.
“The EEOC is especially concerned when employees suffer adverse actions for complaining about discriminatory employment practices,” saidKatharine W. Kores, district director of the commission’s Memphis office, which has jurisdiction over Arkansas.
“It is illegal to terminate an employee for engaging in her statutorily protected right of filing a charge with the EEOC.”
A telephone call seeking comment from Arkansas Baptist was not returned by Tuesday evening.
According to the commission, Mary Jarrett filed a complaint with the federal agency in November 2008, saying that she believed she was demoted and discriminated against.
Details about the demotion were unavailable Tuesday. Three months after the demotion, Jarrett agreed to teachtwo classes during the spring semester.
According to the commission’s news release, Jarrett was later told that she would not be able to teach the classes because of the pending complaint. Her consulting contract with the school also was canceled.
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 07/28/2010