A former associate professor in UF's Levin College of Law filed a lawsuit against UF last week alleging she was forced to resign in 2007 because of sex and race discrimination.
In one instance, she alleges she was talking with a black student when a male colleague hit her from behind, pushing her into the classroom's whiteboard as class was about to start and students were taking their seats.
Sherrie Russell-Brown, who was hired in 2001 as an assistant professor of law, filed suit in federal court against UF's Board of Trustees, the college of law and its dean, Bob Jerry.
Russell-Brown, who is black, alleges that the bulk of the discrimination occurred after she returned from England, where she was studying for a degree in public international law at the University of Oxford while on a two-year leave of absence.
While in England, she wrote e-mails to faculty in the law school detailing episodes of discrimination.
When she returned in January 2007, she found her office a mess and learned that her personal mail and e-mails had been accessed in her absence, she alleges.
She claims her colleagues completely shunned her and their hostility even transferred to the students. One white male student sent her a threatening e-mail the day after the Virginia Tech killings, leading her to cancel the last day of class for the semester, she alleges.
She claims she reported the incident, as well as the assault by the male colleague in February 2007, but UF did nothing about either incident.
In August of 2007, she filed an internal discrimination complaint against UF. The investigation determined all her claims were unsubstantiated. The report noted, among other things, that investigators found "three large stacks of unopened mail" in her office.
She also filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. According to the lawsuit, the office found there was reason to believe violations of federal civil rights laws had occurred.
The day after the complaint was filed, the lawsuit states, Russell-Brown was placed on unpaid leave. She alleges this violated UF regulations and filed a grievance. She resigned on Dec. 31, 2007.
The lawsuit claims Russell-Brown's performance as a professor was exemplary, citing her promotion in 2004 and nomination as "Professor of the Year" in 2002 and 2003.
In a letter sent to law students Monday, Jerry denied the allegations.
"At this time, I am at liberty to say that the allegations of discrimination in this case are unfounded," he wrote. "We will be responding vigorously to this complaint, and we will provide a copy of our response when we do."
An almost identical letter was sent to faculty.
Debra Amirin, director of communications for the law college, added that the college has a commitment to diversity, with minorities making up over a quarter of the 2008 entering class and 19 percent of the faculty.
