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The University of Toledo’s former chief human resource officer has filed suit in Lucas County, alleging she was wrongfully terminated because she is African American.
On Sept. 18, 2020, Wendy Davis, without warning, received a letter from Chief Financial Officer Matt Schroeder notifying her that, in 90 days, the university intended to terminate her employment.
“We appreciate the work that you have done for The University of Toledo and regret that this action is necessary. We are confident that you will work closely with us in this difficult transition time,” Mr. Schroeder wrote.
The letter does not specify a reason for the termination, but Ms. Davis believes her firing was racially motivated and retaliatory. Shortly before she was terminated, Ms. Davis was involved in a negotiation between the university’s chief labor representative and police chief. Ms. Davis declined to discipline and terminate the chief labor representative, who is African American, when instructed to do so by her superiors.
“[Ms. Davis] refused to discipline or terminate the university’s chief negotiator based on the lack of merit for the recommended termination and the liability to which such action would expose the university,” the complaint reads.
UT spokesman Meghan Cunningham acknowledged that the university was aware of Ms. Davis’ lawsuit.
“The University denies that it engaged in any discrimination against Ms. Davis or any other employee on the basis of race or in retaliation for protected activity. At UToledo, diversity is a core value and we are a community that respects people of all backgrounds and experiences. As an institution, we remain committed to building an inclusive environment free of racism, sexism, bigotry and other negative influences,” she said in a written statement.
The University declined to comment further.
While being served with her notice of termination, Ms. Davis was informed by Mr. Schroeder that the university was “going in a different direction with HR,” her complaint states.
Her duties were subsequently divided between two new white hires, who the complaint alleges were paid a higher salary and offered greater benefits than had been given to Ms. Davis.
On June 24, 2021, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission found that the university had probably discriminated against Ms. Davis on the basis of her race.
To the OCRC, UT claimed that Ms. Davis was fired for budgetary reasons, for failure to implement adequate cuts to the human resource department, for excessive turnover in her department, for negative feedback from employees in her department, and for exhibiting a high level of dysfunction.
The OCRC determined that all of these reasons were unfounded.
The civil rights commission notes in their letter that the two African American employees left in the university’s human resource department when Ms. Davis was fired also received 90-day notices shortly after she departed.
“Since 2019, in terms of employees in upper management and leadership positions, [UT’s Equal Employment Opportunity Data] shows that the number of African American employees in upper management positions has decreased from 2019 to 2021,” the civil rights commission states in a finding of discrimination for Dreyon Wynn, one of the African American employees terminated shortly after Ms. Davis.
The civil rights commission notes that the dispatched employees, most of whom were in key leadership positions, were subsequently replaced with caucasian employees.
According to her complaint, Ms. Davis was employed by UT since April, 2015. She was hired by the university’s human resource department and was promoted a year later to the associate vice president of the department.
In 2017, she was again promoted to her most recent role, chief human resource officer. She reported directly to Mr. Schroeder, the complaint states.
“During her employment by the university, Ms. Davis was never disciplined or written-up for unsatisfactory work,” the complaint reports, noting that her performance reviews “were continuously above average.”
Ms. Davis’ attorney Norman Abood was not available to speak with The Blade prior to publication,
A court date has yet to be set in Ms. Davis’ case.