Local News in Brief : Irvine : Professor Sues Over Being Denied Tenure

A UC Irvine professor who is black has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that he was a victim of “institutional racism” and discrimination when the university failed to recommend him for tenure.

W. Lawrence Hogue, 35, an assistant professor of English and comparative literature for the past eight years, claimed in a suit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana that the university refused to promote him because of his race.

A university spokeswoman declined comment, saying a copy of the lawsuit had not been received.

Defendants include the university, the UC Regents and David Gardner, president of the UC system. In addition, Hogue has sued his boss, Ed Schell, chairman of the English department; Schell’s predecessor John Rowe; Carla R. Espinoza, assistant vice chancellor and the university’s affirmative action officer; William Lillyman, executive vice chancellor, and UCI chancellor Jack W. Peltason.

Hogue contends in the suit that his tenure review “was sabotaged” because he is black and emphasized Afro-American literature in an all-white English department. He further claimed that university officials promised him during a job interview that he could teach Afro-American literature, but later reneged.

In a confidential memo filed with the lawsuit, Espinoza, the university’s affirmative action officer, agreed with Hogue, who claimed the university’s tenure review system was flawed. According to the memo, Espinoza said procedural problems “appear to have resulted in incomplete summaries being provided to Hogue and in actions that may have affected the integrity of the review process.”

Of 626 tenured professors at UCI, none are black, Hogue’s suit claims. And of six black professors who sought full professorships, none were promoted, the suit says.