Former University Accountant Sues Citing Racial Discrimination

Black Issues in Higher Education, August 19, 1999

MINNEAPOLIS -- A former financial aid accountant is suing the University of Minnesota and three staff members for more than $200,000, alleging that supervisors discriminated against her based on her race, denied her equal pay, and falsely accused her of criminal behavior, according to a story in the Minnesota Daily.

Ruth White-Jarrett, who worked for more than three years in the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, named the University in six counts of discrimination defamations, and retaliation, according to a civil complaint filed in Hennepin Country Distict Court last month.

Sheryl Spivey and Paula Rossin, her former supervisors an administrators in the office, and Rebecca Colberg, the office's human resources assistant director, were also named as defendants in the lawsuit. White-Jarrett is seeking $50,000 in punitive damages from each defendant because their actions represented a "deliberate indifference and a reckless disregard" for her rights, according to the compliant.

The suit details the former accountant's tumultuous relationship with the defendants, culminating with an arrest by the university's police department. White-Jarrett claims Colberg falsely accused her of stealing university property.

She was "embarrassed and humiliated by the unlawful, illegal detention, which defamed her and held her out before all coworkers and other University staff as a criminal," the suit states.

The arrest followed White-Jarrett's termination in February 1998. According to the lawsuit, she was fired "in direct retaliation for complaining of discrimination and unequal pay." Prior to the firing, White-Jarrett filed a complaint with the university's Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action after learning that a new accountant was earning $6,000 more than tier $25,764 salary, the suit states.

White-Jarrett also alleges that she was denied equal pay and subjected to harassment because she refused to raise Spivey's credit card limit at Dayton's, where White-Jarrett worked as a part-time employee. Spivey allegedly asked for the raise in her credit limit one month after White-Jarrett started working in the office.

Shortly before her termination, White-Jarrett received one oral warning and had her telephone removed from her office, according to the complaint.

Thomas Schumacher, associate general counsel for the University, says, "I am confident that the case will be dismissed," adding that a university motion to dismiss the lawsuit is expected to be heard in two months.

None of the other principals involved would comment on the case.