''Rajender v. University of Minnesota'' was a landmark

class action A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...

lawsuit dealing with

sexual discrimination Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...

at an American university. The case was filed on September 5, 1973, by Shyamala Rajender, an assistant professor of chemistry at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

. Rajender accused the university of engaging in employment discrimination on the basis of sex and national origin after she was turned down for a

tenure Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

-track position despite being recommended for the position by several university committees. The suit was certified as a

by the

United States District Court for the District of Minnesota The United States District Court for the District of Minnesota (in case citations, D. Minn.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Minnesota. Its two primary courthouses are in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Cases are al ...

on February 13, 1978. After eleven weeks of trial, the suit was settled in 1980 by a consent decree. Rajender received $100,000 and Judge

Miles Lord Miles Welton Lord (November 6, 1919 – December 10, 2016) was a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. Education and career Born November 6, 1919, in Dean La ...

enjoined the university from discriminating against women on the basis of sex. Rajender's attorneys were awarded approximately $2 million in fees. The suit had a lasting impact on US colleges and universities.

References

United States district court cases United States class action case law University of Minnesota United States employment discrimination case law 1973 in United States case law 1973 in Minnesota Gender discrimination lawsuits United States gender discrimination case law {{UMinnesota-stub

See also

References