Sixth Circuit Backs Michigan Professor’s Pregnancy Bias Verdict

A federal appeals court affirmed a $205,000 jury verdict in a Michigan Technological University accounting professor’s pregnancy discrimination case, but rejected her arguments that other bias claims should’ve gone to trial.

There was sufficient evidence to keep the verdict in place, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said Tuesday. That included Peng Guo’s dean allegedly admitting that Guo was denied a higher merit raise since she took maternity leave and “didn’t do enough service,” a three-judge panel said.

Guo alleged she was paid less than her husband, who was also a tenure-track accounting professor at Michigan Tech, ...