Attorney Speaks Out About Claims of Discrimination at ASU
Tonight, Alabama News Network brings you an exclusive story. Dr. John Garland, the Alabama State University professor who filed a discrimination suit against Alabama State University, allows us to speak with his attorney.
According to the lawsuit, Dr. John Garland claims this discrimination has gone on for years and says because the university would do nothing about it, he had no choice but to take legal action.
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Dr. John Garland who is native American but perceived to be white was hired by Alabama State University as a counseling professor in 2008. He alleges that since that time, he’s been the target of harassment and discrimination by higher-ups at university. His attorney Wayne Sabel gives us examples of the alleged abuse.
“He has been told time and time again, why are you here?” he explains. “In effect, white people are unable to teach African American students.”
But Sabel says it’s not just Garland’s ethnicity that was targeted, it was also his sexual orientation. Garland has a same-sex partner who also works at ASU. The lawsuit claims in 2012, the university changed its policy to single out same-sex couples from working together on campus but not opposite sex or married couples.
“He was then transferred to another department out of his field of expertise and placed in freshman orientation.”
Garland, who has a PhD in Counseling, says he was moved from his position as a tenured professor in the College of Heath Sciences to a position he was over qualified for and his salary cut in half. Sabel says Garland wanted to resolve the matter without litigation, but says university officials never responded.
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Garland is seeking damages against certain staff members and wants to be returned to the field of his expertise. Both Garland and his partner still work at the university.
We reached out to Alabama State University officials for a comment but they tell us because this concerns an on-going and active legal case, the university has no comment.
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