Former Librarian Sues Smith College for Toxic, Racially Discriminatory Environment and Retaliation

On December 16, 2021 The Pivtorak Law Firm filed a racial discrimination and retaliation lawsuit on behalf of Jodi Shaw, a former employee of Smith College. The complaint, filed in federal district court in Massachusetts, alleges that Smith College “fostered a toxic climate of racial fear, hostility, and exclusion. This was felt most deeply by lower-level employees like Plaintiff Jodi Shaw who, while simply trying to make ends meet, suddenly found themselves thrust into the middle of an ideologically driven campaign of race-essentialism and collective guilt pushed by the school. Specifically, Smith adopted an official policy of viewing every aspect of its operations through a racial lens; one that distorts all whites into malevolent oppressors and all people of color into hapless victims, regardless of any individual’s actual position or status. This policy permeated every decision and action taken by the school.”

The suit identifies many policies and practices at Smith College that led to explicit acts of discrimination and a racially hostile work environment. For instance, Shaw was denied significant career advancement and told by her supervisors that they cancelled an orientation program she planned for incoming students “because you are white.” The school required Shaw to maintain racially segregated student housing, called “affinity houses.” Additionally, Shaw was subject to ritual racial humiliation and was “continually expected to submit to shaming and harassing group race therapy as an ongoing condition of employment.”

The complaint further states, 

[w]hen Shaw objected to these policies and the racially hostile environment at Smith College, defendants retaliated against her, attempted to stymie her efforts to file an internal complaint, and then hedged and delayed their investigation. Defendants steadily removed Plaintiff’s job responsibilities, placed her on furlough, launched a pretextual investigation into her email usage, and deliberately made any further employment at Smith College impossible for Shaw.

This lawsuit is brought pursuant to federal and state civil rights laws, including, 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act and Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 151B, Section 4.

A copy of the complaint can be found HERE.