Race, sexual orientation discrimination alleged in ex-Oberlin College prof's suit

ELYRIA — A former Oberlin College dance professor said she didn't get a tenured job because she is white and heterosexual, according to a civil suit filed Sept. 3 in the Lorain County Common Pleas Court. The suit seeks damages of $25,000 plus a punitive award due to the "dehumanizing and humiliating experience," plaintiff Alice Blumenfeld outlined in its pages. Blumenfeld, of Huron, was a visiting professor of dance from July 2018 to June 2020, when her position was eliminated. A new, full-time position was established in its stead, and Blumenfeld was one of four candidates interviewed. But the suit alleges she was denied the job on the basis of her race, color, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin and ancestry in violation of the Ohio Civil Rights Act. The 29-page complaint contends department chair Ann Cooper Albright invited Blumenfeld to her home in July 2019, and told her to start job-hunting. "We just can't hire another white woman from the Midwest with a husband," she said, according to the suit. Albright allegedly said that a few years prior when the college hired another professor who is white, it had to "settle" because it could not find a person of color for the position. The suit said Blumenfeld was "disgusted" and "felt demeaned" by the exchange. It describes Albright as "a powerful figure in the dance world who held tremendous influence over Ms. Blumenfeld's career path," and who had engaged in "a pattern of discriminatory activity and motive that has persisted for years." Blumenfeld's suit said she went to Oberlin College Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Rebecca Mosely to lodge a complaint. She asked for it to be anonymous and confidential because she feared retribution. The complaint was not kept confidential, the suit said. College of Arts and Sciences Dean David Kamitsuka later asked Blumenfeld about it. Albright was removed as chair of the hiring committee. "Shockingly, however, he kept her as an active and influential member of the hiring committee despite her discriminatory conduct," the suit said. Blumenfeld applied for the new tenure-track position in October 2019. Three other candidates were described as "people of color," according to the lawsuit. During the interview process, Blumenfeld never met with some members of the hiring committee, but she did interview with Albright despite their previous encounter. The suit contends "the interview process was just a pretext" and that Blumenfeld was not afforded the same opportunities to meet with students who played a role in selecting a new professor. She ultimately didn't get the job. "Instead, Oberlin hired a non-Caucasian, gay man of Filipino descent who does not appear to be from the Midwest or in a heterosexual marriage" the suit said. It cited a review of Blumenfeld's complaint by the college, which found she had not suffered any form of discrimination or retaliation. An investigative report acknowledged that the college had "identified a pattern of professionally inappropriate language that violates Oberlin's policy on discrimination," the suit alleged. The suit said Blumenfeld's qualifications and character should have been the deciding factor in the interview process. She is qualified to teach flamenco at "an elite level," ballet, butoh, contemporary dance as well as yoga, improvisation and composition. Blumenfeld has used her dance skills to reach out to people at a women's prison, started children's classes at the Julia de Burgos Cultural Arts Center in Cleveland and creating a continuing project that uses flamenco "to investigate loneliness in the 21st century," the suit said. She is also fluent in Spanish, and taught a Spanish language course at Oberlin College. Representatives from the college declined to comment. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.