Suits Accuse WSU Of Discrimination Four Women Say They Were Denied Promotions, Pay Raises

Three female education teachers and one former faculty member have sued Washington State University, alleging they were denied promotions and pay raises because of their gender and their opposition to budget-cutting plans.

College of Education professors Sue Durrant and Marilyn Mowatt filed separate suits in Whitman County Superior Court last week, while associate professor Joanne Washburn filed suit Jan. 7. A fourth woman, former education faculty member Cynthia Christie, sued Dec. 13.

The four allege they are victims of retaliation from Education Dean Bernard Oliver and Assistant Dean Lawrence Bruya, who are named as defendants in the suit along with the university.

Each woman claims Oliver and Bruya systematically denied her promotions and raises in retaliation for vocal opposition to the college administration’s budget-cutting plans.

The women also allege WSU paid them less than male faculty members but required them to do more work.

WSU disputes the contention that any of the four women was treated unequally, said assistant attorney general Loretta Lamb, who is representing the university.

Before filing the suits, each of the women complained to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, as required by law.

The federal agency found no evidence of discrimination or unfair treatment, Lamb said.

Greg Arpin, lawyer for the four, said male associate professors at WSU have received salary increases double those of his clients since 1990.

The four taught 50 percent more courses than men and had nearly twice as many students enrolled in their classes as comparable male faculty members, he said.

Durrant and Mowatt are both former WSU athletics coaches who joined other coaches and athletes in a 1979 suit alleging that the university wasn’t complying with a federal civil rights statute guaranteeing gender equity in college athletics.

The suit, Blair vs. WSU, led to a 1987 state Supreme Court ruling that WSU couldn’t treat football as a separate activity when calculating equal funding for men’s and women’s athletics.