A former tenured professor fired by ASU is suing the University, claiming her release was discrimination.
On Aug. 13, Theresa Cameron, who taught in the College of Design, filed a lawsuit against the parties who prompted her dismissal, according to court documents.
Cameron had been employed at ASU since 1997 and became the first black woman in the design college’s School of Planning to be awarded tenure, according to the documents.
According a press release issued by Cameron’s lawyers, “the lawsuit seeks to overturn ASU President [Michael] Crow’s decision to fire Dr. Cameron, reinstatement of her tenured faculty post and unspecified money damages.” However, no date has been set for a hearing on the injunction request.
A letter from Crow to Cameron said she was fired in June because of violating both Arizona Board of Regents and University policies, which included plagiarism and retaliation against students.
According to the letter, Cameron plagiarized six course syllabi, failed to follow protocol when she read the teacher evaluation instructions to her classes and “publicly challenged two students in [one of her classes] whom she believed had complained to the Dean’s Office.”
Cameron, however, claims in the lawsuit that the University discriminated against her because of a disability relating to stress and depression when she began a leave of absence in 2004 for her medical issues.
According to Cameron’s suit, she returned to work in 2005 and requested accommodations be made for her disability, but after two years she hadn’t been provided with the adjustments. Cameron also claims she was supposed to undergo a post-tenure review with the former dean, but it was never completed.
The Rev. Oscar Tillman, president of the Maricopa County Chapter of the NAACP, says the firing of Cameron is an outrage, according to the press release.
“This is one of several incidents involving what we believe to be disparate treatment of minority faculty and students at ASU,” Tillman said in the press release. “The NAACP has been made aware at the national level of the circumstances involving Dr. Cameron.”
Terri Shafer, assistant vice president of ASU Public Affairs, said in an e-mail that the University will defend its decision to terminate Cameron’s employment.
Shafer said Cameron’s allegations are being used to obscure the issue of her academic dishonesty.
Crow also stands by the decision to not reinstate Cameron.
“Dr. Cameron’s conduct violates the very basic and essential responsibilities of her position as a tenured faculty member in regard to teaching and students, scholarship, colleagues and the University,” Crow said in his letter to Cameron.
The parties involved were not available for direct comment because of the pending litigation.
Reach the reporter at charlsy.panzino@asu.edu
