Transgender Professor Awarded $1.1 Million in Discrimination Suit Against Southeastern Oklahoma State
LatestA Southeastern Oklahoma State University professor was awarded $1.1 million by a federal jury after she argued that she was denied tenure and a promotion because she’s transgender.
Rachel Tudor began as a tenure-track assistant professor in the university’s English department in 2004, at which point she presented as a man. She began transitioning in 2007, becoming the university’s first openly transgender professor, NBC News reports. But then:
According to the lawsuit, after notifying the university that she would be presenting as a woman at work for the 2007-2008 academic year, Tudor received a phone call from an unnamed human resources staffer who told her the school’s vice president for academic affairs, Douglas McMillan, had inquired about firing her because her identity as a transgender woman offended his religious beliefs.
Tudor was not, however, fired outright, though she testified that she was told by human resources that she needed to follow “certain rules,” which included not using the women’s restroom, not wearing short skirts, and not wearing makeup that would be “deemed harassing to male colleagues,” The Oklahoman reports.