Professor’s Sex Bias Case Against Tennessee Tech Moves Forward

Tennessee Technological University must face an adjunct English professor’s sex discrimination suit after a federal judge ruled the faculty member met the objective qualifications for promotion.

Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. of the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee denied TTU’s motion to dismiss, finding the plaintiff Kristen Deiter provided evidence from which a jury could “reasonably doubt” the university president’s decision not to promote her.

• Two male adjunct professors with fewer achievements who earned promotions may be presented as evidence, as both were similarly-situated individuals under the McDonnell Douglas test for discrimination cases, Crenshaw said in ...