University of Texas Owes Professor $3 Million for Pregnancy Bias

The University of Texas at Austin must pay an assistant engineering professor more than $3 million for denying her tenure because of her sex and pregnancies, a federal jury decided.

Evdokia Nikolova proved that her status as a woman and her pregnancies were the but-for cause of her tenure denial, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas jury said.

It awarded Nikolova $1 million for her past emotional pain and suffering, $2 million for her future emotional pain and suffering, and $50,000 in back pay and benefits.

The verdict was reached March 11 following a five-day trial before Judge Robert L. Pitman and entered by the court on Monday.

Pitman ruled Feb. 15 that a trial was necessary because Nikolova could convince a jury the university’s proffered reasons for denying her tenure were a pretext for sex-based bias.

The dean of the School of Engineering cited Nikolova’s teaching record as the reason she was denied tenure while the university’s former president said concerns over Nikolova’s publication record and research funding drove the decision.

A jury could find those explanations to be conflicting and thus a cover for discrimination and that Nikolova’s sex and pregnancies really motivated her tenure denial, Pitman said.

Crews Law Firm PC and Robert S. Notzon of Austin represented Nikolova. The Texas attorney general’s office represented the university.

The case is Nikolova v. Univ. of Tex. at Austin, W.D. Tex., No. 1:19-cv-00877, jury verdict entered 3/14/22.