CLARKSBURG – A professor is representing himself in his suit against Shepherd University over allegations he was discriminated against.
Mengyang Li filed the lawsuit Dec. 23 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, alleging he was discriminated against based on his age, race and national origin. He claims he was also harassed and retaliated against.
Li alleges between May 3, 2017, and April 23, 2018, he was denied promotion applications. He alleges between the fall of 2014 and September and October, he was discriminated against and harassed by multiple officers and employees of the university.
Li, who filed a grievance with the West Virginia Public Employees Grievance Board in 2018, claims he was subjected to discrimination and harassment by co-workers and supervisors.
"White faculty members and supervisors ganged up and discriminated against and to harass me for a number of years," Li wrote in his pro se complaint. "I testified and had witnesses testified heavily about this at the WV Public Employees Grievance Board ... both level one and level three hearings."
Li, who is Asian and was born in China, has been in the United States since 1986. He became a U.S. citizen in 1999. He alleges he spoke to the department chair about the discrimination and harassment several times before filing the grievance. He allegedly also spoke with the university's human resources director regarding harassment and discrimination.
Li alleges he applied for tenure and was denied, but that white employees who were younger received tenure. He alleges he has suffered severe professional, financial and emotional damages from the continued discrimination by the university.
Li is seeking for the discrimination and harassment to end, as well as a change in the hostile work environment and compensatory damages.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia case number 3:19-cv-00216
