A former employee of Clark College in Vancouver, Washington, has filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that she was discriminated against due to her race.
Dolly England joined the staff at the college in 2015 as the school’s diversity outreach manager in the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The complaint says that she was “sidelined, disrespected, denied employment opportunities, devalued and demeaned” by Bob Knight, who was then the president of the college and from her direct supervisor.
The complaint alleges that she was subjected by President Knight to “race-based harassment, particularly when I was with other women of color, saying we were ‘trouble’ and that he had ‘lost control’ of us long ago.”
England stated that the administration’s behavior created a hostile and stressful work environment that resulted in her becoming physically ill from stress.
President Knight stepped down from his post last summer. Recently the college announced a field of four finalists to succeed Knight. Two of the four finalists are Black women (see JBHE post).
Clark College is a state-operated, mostly two-year educational institution with nearly 10,000 students. African Americans make up just 2 percent of the student body.
