Professors alleging discrimination sue University of Houston-Victoria
Three business professors at the University of Houston-Victoria (UHV) are alleging discrimination by their former dean in a lawsuit they filed in March. In their lawsuits, associate professors Luh Yu Ren, Chun-Sheng Yu and Jianjun Du argue UHV officials failed to protect them from discrimination and retaliation from Farhang Niroomand, the former dean of the School of Business Administration.
The plaintiffs, whose are between 59 to 65 years old, are alleging their former boss created a hostile work environment and implemented obstacles preventing them from receiving promotions and pay raises after they complained about Niroomand to the UHV officials about his behavior. Further, the plaintiffs complain the prejudicial treatment they received was due to their ages and Chinese heritage.
Attorneys for UHV argue the men’s lawsuits are without merit, dismissing them as nothing more than common workplace disagreements. “Plaintiff[s] [are] simply complaining about ordinary tribulations of the workplace such as petty slights and minor annoyances,” they argued in court documents. They also claimed the lawsuit fails to meet procedural and jurisdictional requirements.
The embattled former dean resigned in 2017.
The plaintiffs allege they filed suit only after failing to resolve their complaints through the university’s human resources department, the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. While initially complaining UHV failed to respond to their grievances, the plaintiffs since admitted they believed officials did not actually take their complaints seriously.