A UNC Charlotte professor has filed a discrimination lawsuit claiming his superior, who has ties to an alliance with the mission of improving the lives of women and girls in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region, gave promotions to less-qualified female candidates.
Court documents show that on Nov. 13 UNC Charlotte staff member Dr. Coria-Sánchez filed a lawsuit in U.S. Federal Court citing discrimination on the basis of race and gender in the workplace.
Coria-Sánchez has been an associate professor in the Spanish Department at UNC Charlotte since 2001 and has had many publications in that time.
Coria-Sánchez names his employer, UNC Charlotte, as the defendant and the failure to promote him as the primary cause of the lawsuit.
Coria-Sánchez goes on to state that UNC Charlotte discriminated against him on the basis of his sex, his national origin and his race. The lawsuit states that Nancy A. Gutierrez, the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has discriminated against him several times.
The full statement in the lawsuit reads, “In the past, Dean Gutierrez discriminated against the plaintiff when she denied him tenure and salary increases. This time Dr. Gutierrez is discriminating in Dr. Coria-Sánchez promotion to full professor. Dr. Gutierrez is not using the same standards that she used in the past to promote two white, European females to the rank of full professor. Dr Coria-Sánchez has the same or even more qualifications than these two professors when they were granted promotion; in specific more qualifications than former professor Marie Therese Nosiet.”
Gutierrez is the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Girls Research Alliance, a community-university alliance with the mission of improving the lives of women and girls in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region.
Coria-Sánchez has demanded a jury trial in the matter. He also sought relief from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, who reviewed the information and was unable to make a conclusion in this case prior its filing in U.S. Federal Court.
Coria-Sánchez was not immediately available to return comment on the matter.
UNC Charlotte stated Tuesday that they would refrain from commenting on ongoing litigation.