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Harvard Librarian Sues over Race, Gender BiasClaiming that she has been repeatedly passed over for promotions, an African-American library assistant at Harvard’s Frances Loeb Library has sued the university on the basis of race and gender discrimination.In an August lawsuit filed in Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 38-year-old Desiree Goodwin asserts that over her nine years at Harvard she was passed over 13 times in favor of less experienced and less qualified white men and women. While working at Harvard, Goodwin completed an MLS at Simmons University in 1999. The suit alleges that Goodwin’s white, female supervisor told her that “sexy outfits,” “tight clothing,” “low-cut blouses,” and an alleged bad reputation were holding her back, the Boston Herald reported September 19. Goodwin’s attorney, Richard D. Clarey, said his client “is one of the most wonderful women I have ever met. I think they are jealous of her; the white women are jealous of her.” He noted that she works a second job at the Arlington (Mass.) Public Library “where they all love her.” “I would like to overcome the perception that being attractive and being intelligent and capable are mutually exclusive,” Goodwin said in the September 20 Boston Globe. Her claims, however, were dismissed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination in June, according to a September 20 Associated Press report. “This case is without merit,” said university spokesman Joe Wrinn, in the September 22 Harvard Crimson. “Gender and race were not factors, and the fact that the independent agencies established to investigate these types of charges dismissed this case indicates how this suit ultimately will be resolved.” Harvard lawyers had the case moved out of state court and into federal court in Boston before U.S. District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro. Posted September 29, 2003; revised March 28, 2005. |
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