Law prof awarded $750,000K in UI suit

A former University of Idaho law professor has been awarded $750,000 in a settlement over her claims of racial and gender discrimination by two former deans. The agreement also includes proposed changes to the college’s bylaws.

U.S. District of Idaho Court Judge Lynn Winmill filed a stipulated settlement Monday in the case brought by Shaakirrah Sanders against the university and two former deans of its College of Law, Mark Adams and Jerrold Long.

“The parties have agreed the best path forward is a resolution that allows an end to this litigation,” a joint statement from Sanders and the university states.

Sanders, who has since left UI for a position at Penn State Dickinson Law, filed her lawsuit in 2019 alleging she was discriminated against and retaliated against first by Adams then by interim dean Long, according to court documents.

“I initiated this litigation to obtain a record of, and accountability for, my experience as the first descendent of enslaved Americans to earn the rank of full professor at either the University or the law school,” Sanders said in a news release. “I sought this record on the faith of my upbringing, my education, and my law practice experience prior to joining the legal teaching academy.”

University of Idaho spokesperson Jodi Walker wrote in an emailed statement, “For the University of Idaho, this settlement is a business decision and in the best interest of our students, the university and the state of Idaho. Litigation costs money and time as well as creates the potential for ongoing distraction to employees and students. We wish Professor Sanders the best in her future endeavors.”

Adams served as dean from June 2014 to June 2018 and Long from June 2018 to May 2021. Adams had been asked to step down by the provost because of concerns regarding his leadership, which included issues of racial, gender and disability discrimination, court documents state.

Adams is now a professor at the university, according to state records on the Transparent Idaho website.

In 2022, a judge found sufficient evidence to continue the case in a trial, KTVB reported. However, the jury in October 2022 informed the court that it was unable to agree upon a verdict. The university, Adams and Long categorically denied all allegations that they violated Sanders’ rights.

Court documents show that the university’s provost directed its Human Resources department to conduct a review of Adams. After interviewing 32 College of Law faculty and staff — which included Sanders — the department sent a report that “detailed a string of concerns related to gender and racial bias” and prompted the request for his resignation.

The report included complaints about gender bias in relation to “who is allowed to speak at meetings and in what way,” that women were disproportionately admonished for “aggressive communication,” and that there was a lack of women in leadership, among other complaints, court documents said.

Adams voluntarily resigned and was not disciplined, court documents said, and instead was “given a paid semester off, a positive review and returned to faculty as the highest paid professor.”

Adams now earns $158,137 annually, according to state records.

After Long assumed the role, Sanders said she continued to face discriminatory behavior. She reported that Long secretly recorded her during an open forum she moderated, without her consent or the students’, and then failed to address students’ concerns about the recording. She also said he unfairly gave her negative evaluations, her first in more than 10 years at the college, documents said. She was denied raises given to her colleagues because of the poor reviews.

Sanders said that Long did not interfere when students used racial slurs, when one suggested genocide as a solution to climate change, or used antisemitic rhetoric or actions — including a Nazi salute and saying “Heil Hitler.” She also presented evidence of other female faculty members being concerned about Long’s treatment of women, bias against women in hiring and against people of color.

She said Long instructed others at the college to “always take careful notes of your communications” with Sanders and to share those notes with him.

Long is also a professor at the university, state records show.

The agreement isn’t effective until approved by the university’s Board of Regents, which is also the State Board of Education.

The payment to Sanders will include $44,735 for “dispute and denied wages and withholdings” and $503,864 to the law firm Strindberg & Scholnick, Strindberg Scholnick Birch Hallam Harstad Thorne.

The agreement also requires the university to remove three negative performance evaluations and two letters of reprimand from Sanders’ personnel file.

The current College of Law Dean, Johanna Kalb, who was appointed in 2021 as the first woman to serve in the role, agreed to support changes to the bylaws regarding recordings, which will need to be approved by the College of Law faculty. The proposed bylaw would require notice before recording College of Law events. This policy wouldn’t apply to class recordings.

Sanders wrote in a news release that the settlement allows her to “avoid the continued emotional and spiritual harms that became part of the lawsuit.”

“With this settlement I have the space for peace, healing, and restoration,” Sanders said. “I have accepted a distinguished and tenured associate deanship at one of the oldest law schools in the country, and I have a plan for my future.”

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on Twitter @EyeOnBoiseGuido.