COLLEGE STATION, Texas — A Houston federal judge dismissed a discrimination case against Texas A&M University after Richard Lowery, a finance professor from the University of Texas at Austin, never actually applied for a job.
United States District Judge Charles Eskridge granted the university's motion to dismiss, stating Lowery simply cannot assume that ongoing discrimination exists.
"Otherwise, any putative plaintiff could sue a potential employer without ever applying, simply upon allegation the posited discriminatory practices deterred application," Eskridge said through a filed court document.
Lowery, a white male, claimed Texas A&M engaged in discriminatory hiring practices "by giving discriminatory preferences to females and non-Asian racial minorities at the expense of white and Asian men.”
According to court documents, Lowery had stated he wanted to leave UT because he disliked its leadership and felt that he had been the target of criticism for his conservativism.
Texas A&M officials moved to dismiss the case after it was discovered that Lowery never applied for a job at the campus. Court documents explained that the university will abide by Senate Bill No 17, which was signed into law in June and takes effect on January 1, prohibits public universities from giving “preference on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin to an applicant for employment,” making Lowery's argument completely moot.
The Court’s opinion closed by noting that, after the state law becomes effective, nothing prevents Lowery from filing another suit if he believes that Texas A&M’s hiring practices at that time are unlawful.
Texas A&M recently faced controversy over the failed hiring of University of Texas professor Kathleen McElroy. An investigation uncovered that McElroy was not hired after several University staff members objected to her appointment as head of the new school of journalism over her lack of conservative values.
The incident led former A&M president Katherine Banks' resignation after being caught in a lie over the botched hiring.
You can click here to read the official court documents in the Lowery lawsuit on Texas A&M's website.
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