18 Oct Abigail Adams was hired as an associate professor of economics at Heartland University. She was the first woman professor hired in the department.

The Pregnant Professor

Abigail Adams was hired as an associate professor of economics at Heartland University. She was the first woman professor hired in the department. When she was hired, she was given the same 3-year time period as all other associate professors at Heartland University to establish herself as an academic through teaching ability, publishing multiple articles in peer-reviewed journals, and developing a rapport with colleagues in the department through committee participation and attendance at professional conferences. After 3 years, as was the custom, she would face a tenure vote and would either receive tenure and be promoted to full professor or be denied tenure and given 1 year to locate another position.

During the next 3 years, Professor Adams earned high marks in student reviews for her teaching ability and she published two peer-reviewed scholarly articles on economics. Her male peers in the Economics Department were enthusiastic regarding her teaching reviews, though less so about her publishing, because they all published multiple articles per year and expected her to do the same. In the second year of her appointment, Professor Adams became pregnant and reduced some of her nonclassroom professional commitments as her pregnancy advanced. She then took a 3-month leave after the birth of her child, time that was not included in the 3-year review period. Upon returning to work, Professor Adams resumed her previous level of professional activity.

Throughout the 3-year probation period, the Chair of the Economics Department, Professor Cratchett, as well as the majority of the other professors in the department complained about Professor Adams’ unwillingness to participate in their weekly discussion forum on economics and her “lack of commitment” to professional activities, including her failure to participate in several economics conferences held at various places around the world. Professor Adams complained that Professor Cratchett was unfriendly to her and preferred the company of the other men in the department. She also complained that many of these conferences occurred while she was pregnant (and could not fly) or while she was on maternity leave. She also claimed that her salary as Associate Professor was not commensurate with that of her male colleagues and that this resulted from the subjective determination of compensation and promotion in her department, a process controlled by her male colleagues.

After her 3-year probation, her colleagues in the Economics Department unanimously voted to deny her tenure. They advertised her position as open to new candidates and within a year had hired another woman, Professor Betsy Ross, to replace her.

Does Professor Adams have a claim for discrimination?