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By DIANE CARROLL The Kansas City Star
Date: 04/11/00 22:15

The University of Kansas retaliated against a former assistant professor of art history for filing a sexual discrimination complaint, a federal jury decided Tuesday.

Jurors deliberated more than five hours before siding with Marie Aquilino, the former assistant professor, and awarding her $35,000 in damages for emotional pain and suffering.

KU's refusal to grant Aquilino an unpaid position after denying her tenure amounted to retaliation, jurors concluded in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan.

KU said in a statement that it was disappointed with the verdict.

"The university believes it did not retaliate against the plaintiff," the statement said. "We are considering an appeal."

Aquilino's attorney Alan Johnson said Aquilino "is very gratified by the jury's verdict and feels that justice has been done."

Aquilino's lawsuit did not specify the amount of money she was seeking.

The lawsuit, filed in June, contended that KU sexually discriminated against Aquilino when it denied her tenure in March 1998. The lawsuit also claimed that KU retaliated against her for filing the discrimination complaint by denying her unpaid ad hoc positions on the graduate faculty and an unpaid adjunct research position.

Retaliation is prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Judge Kathryn Vratil dismissed the discrimination part of the lawsuit in February, saying there was not enough evidence to support it.

KU attorneys said that Aquilino failed to earn tenure, which is essentially lifetime employment, because she had published only one article since 1991 and had not been able to find a publisher for a book manuscript. Aquilino's attorneys claimed that her research achievements were equal to if not greater than those of a male colleague who received tenure.

The jury spent most of last week hearing the retaliation part of the lawsuit.

In closing arguments Monday, Aquilino's attorney said that KU had been willing to give Aquilino an ad hoc or adjunct position, until administrators learned of the sexual-discrimination complaint. Then their attitude changed, Johnson said.

Aquilino wanted the ad hoc positions to continue working with graduate students she had been supervising for years, Johnson said. Other professors who have been denied tenure have been allowed to continue in ad hoc positions, he said.

Several graduate students asked that Aquilino be allowed to continue to supervise them, Johnson said. Also, he said, seeing those students through to graduation would have improved Aquilino's chances of getting an academic position elsewhere.

Barbara McCloud, KU's assistant general counsel, said in closing arguments that KU was acting in the best interests of its students when it decided against giving Aquilino the unpaid positions.

Last month KU was cleared of sexual discrimination and retaliation complaints filed by former assistant professor Cynthia Annett and her husband, associate professor Raymond Pierotti.

To reach Diane Carroll, higher education reporter, call (816) 234-7704 or send e-mail to dcarroll@kcstar.com