Facts

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a complaint against Chapman University and its Board of Trustees, claiming they treated an employee unfairly.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
The EEOC alleged that Dr. Stephanie Dellande was denied promotion to a tenured position and discharged based on her race. More specifically, the EEOC alleged that Dr. Dellande was treated less favorably than her non-Black peers because she was subjected to a higher standard for tenure and promotion.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Defendants denied any wrongdoing.

Result

The parties entered into a consent decree, under which defendants agreed to pay $75,000 in settlement and to retroactively promote Dr. Dellande to Associate Professor in the University's George Argyros School of Business and Economics effective Jan. 1, 2007, without reinstatement. Defendants also agreed to injunctive relief, enjoining them from discriminating against persons on the basis of race in the terms and conditions of employment or from implementing any policy that has that effect, among others.

Other Information

The district court initially entered summary judgment for defendants, and then the EEOC appealed. While the case was on appeal, the parties entered into the consent decree.