The DePaulia
Ella Lee, Print Managing Editor|January 26, 2021
A new lawsuit claiming racial and disability discrimination has been filed against the university by a professor within the College of Communication, marking the second lawsuit of that nature in the span of six months.
Dr. Sydney Dillard, a professor of public relations and advertising (PRAD), filed a complaint in late December alleging the university unlawfully discriminated against her on the basis of her race and disability. Dillard is the only Black woman within the College of Communication who is a tenure-track faculty member.
In the complaint, Dillard claims that she was subjected to a hostile work environment, singled out and subjected to “random, invasive office searches” and “belittled, ostracized and intimidated through microaggressions,” which negatively affected her ability to work.