[PUBLISHERS/EDITORS - THESE ARE YOUR TWO STORIES FOR DECEMBER 28TH CHRISTMAS WEEK. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES]
FIRED ST. AUG. PRES.
ALLEGES “HOSTILE
WORK ENVIRONMENT”
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Dr. Christine Johnson McPhail, the terminated president of St. Augustine’s University, has alleged in her Dec.19th race and gender charge of discrimination to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that the men on the school’s Board of Trustees "berated [her] and her Black female peers and devalued their opinions,” and also "dismissed her concerns, claiming she needed to be "less sensitive.”
It wasn’t long after when Dr. McPhail, who was appointed the 13th president of the private African-American Episcopalian University in Raleigh in February 2021, was informed that she was terminated when separation papers arrived at her home Dec. 3rd.
She says she was fired after informing the Board of Trustees that she would filing a race and gender bias discrimination lawsuit against the school for alleged hostile treatment against her by members of the board at an October 5th board meeting.
Per McPhail’s EEOC charge, it was at that Oct. 5th St. Aug’s Board of Trustees meeting where a male board member yelled at her, "Woman, did you hear me speak?! I demand you answer my question!”
That same male board member later verbally assaulted McPhail by saying, ‘“Who do you think you are?! You’re just an employee. Get out of my face, employee!”
Another trustee told Dr. McPhail the following day, “You just need to hurry up and get over that . . . You’ve got to separate yourself from that woman stuff.”
It was Oct. 9th when Dr. McPhail filed an internal hostile environment complaint.
According to the noted NY civil rights law firm of Sanford, Heisler, Sharp LLP, which is representing Dr. McPhail, per the EEOC charge, “…in the ensuing weeks, several trustees threatened Dr. McPhail with termination, and the Board’s Executive Committee recommended termination of Dr. McPhail’s employment. Moreover, the Charge alleges that a male trustee sent Dr. McPhail a “cease and desist” letter, claiming among other things that she had made “defamatory” statements in her October 9 internal complaint.
“On November 6, 2023, Dr. McPhail’s counsel informed the University that he had been retained to represent Dr. McPhail in her claims of discrimination and retaliation. The next day, the Charge explains, two trustees called Dr. McPhail, chastised her for hiring counsel, and threatened her job. Despite two more correspondences from Dr. McPhail’s counsel on November 8 and November 9, 2023, the Board voted to terminate Dr. McPhail’s employment on November 13, 2023,” the law firm continued.
“Dr McPhail poured her heart and soul into the University,” said Atty. David Tracey of Sanford Heisler Sharp, who represents Dr. McPhail. “It is extremely disturbing that the University terminated Dr. McPhail’s employment so shortly after she raised claims of discrimination and retaliation.”
McPhail’s EEOC charge alleges that she “…has suffered substantial economic damages, emotional distress, and reputational harm. She further alleges that the University’s actions are part of a pattern or practice of discrimination against Black female leaders. “Dr. McPhail brings these claims not only for herself,” said attorney Tracey, “but she also brings these claims to help prevent others from suffering similar harms.”
In response to Dr. McPhail’s allegations, the board issued a statement:
"The Board denies the unfounded allegations Dr. McPhail has made against the University, and the Board is prepared to defend itself and the institution," the statement reads in part. "The University will have no further comment on these issues given that this is a personnel matter.
St. Augustine’s University has appointed Dr. Marcus H. Burgess, the Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Claflin University in South University, as the interim president of the institution.
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COOPER AND STEIN JOIN
BLACK SENATE
REDISTRICTING LAWSUIT
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Is it genuine support for an African-American lawsuit, or pre-primary posturing for the black vote?
State Attorney General Josh Stein, who filed to run for NC governor last week and faces three Democratic opponents in former State Supreme Court Justice Mike Morgan, and former U.S. Senate candidates Marcus Williams and Chrelle Booker in the March 5th Democratic primary, was joined by Gov. Roy Cooper in filing a friend of the court brief in federal court Dec. 12th in support of a lawsuit by two African-American citizens challenging the new Senate redistricting plan.
The Nov. 20th lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction to stop the new GOP Senate voting map from being enacted before the 2024 elections. Stein and Cooper support that effort.
This is the second of three lawsuits filed since the legislature passed its new redistricting maps in October. The third lawsuit claiming racial gerrymandering was filed Dec. 19th in federal court, and seeks to stop the state Senate, House and congressional maps.
Cooper and Stein’s legal brief pertains only to the state Senate voting map plans.
“Plaintiffs Rodney D. Pierce and Moses Matthews are two Black voters who live in Halifax and Martin counties in northeastern North Carolina,”wrote state Solicitor General Ryan Park on behalf of Cooper and Stein to the court. “In this lawsuit, they seek a preliminary injunction preventing the North Carolina Senate district into which their homes have been drawn from being used in future elections. They seek this relief because the enacted Senate districts illegally divide them from neighboring Black voters, preventing them from joining together to elect their preferred candidates. This division violates the Voting Rights Act.”
“The Voting Rights Act is one of the most successful and important laws in our nation’s History,” Park added. “Since its enactment in 1965, it has been essential in helping Black Americans secure a meaningful role in our nation’s civic life, especially in the South after decades of discrimination under Jim Crow. But the Act’s work is far from done. In North Carolina, the Act’s protections remain urgently needed. In recent years, Black North Carolinians have been repeatedly targeted by discriminatory laws making it harder for them to vote and exercise their political rights.”
Park’s brief continued, “Fortunately, the Supreme Court reaffirmed just a few months ago that the Voting Rights Act provides robust protections to voters like Mr. Pierce and Mr. Matthews, granting them the right to join together with other Black voters to elect candidates of their choice. When the General Assembly drew new Senate districts this year, however, it failed to follow the law. It drew Plaintiffs into a serpentine district that winds its way from deep inland at the Virginia border far away to the distant Outer Banks.”
Park continued, “By separating Plaintiffs from other Black voters who live nearby, the new Senate districts will have the effect of preventing Black voters in northeastern North Carolina from electing candidates of their choice.”
“Because these districts clearly violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the Governor and the Attorney General respectfully request that this Court grant Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. They also respectfully request that this Court do so promptly (by Dec. 29th), so that no elections are held under the illegal districts enacted by the legislature.”
However, the federal judge in this case, US District Court Judge James Dever, has already criticized the plaintiffs for asking for an immediate injunction, saying that they wanted to “set the schedule” for his court.
The bill ratifying the map was passed by the legislature on Oct. 25, but plaintiffs filed their lawsuit 26 days after, and their motion for an injunction 28 days after. Judge Dever questioned why they waited so long after the bill was passed to seek relief, if it was so important to stop the Senate voting map from being enacted. He then denied their motion, calling it “merit”
The Park brief from Cooper and Stein in support of plaintiffs stressed the urgency of Judge Dever to ignore the tardiness to emphasize the importance of compressing the litigation timeline.
"North Carolina’s history is replete with examples of discrimination against Black North Carolinians, stretching back to the State’s founding and continuing to the present," Park wrote. "... In recent years, Black North Carolinians have been repeatedly targeted by discriminatory laws making it harder for them to vote and exercise their political rights."
Despite the obvious need for the federal court to consider the motion for injunction, why would outgoing Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Atty. Gen Josh Stein team up to legally assist the two black plaintiffs in the case?
Observers say with just over two months before the March 5th Democratic primaries, Stein is looking for opportunities to show that he has a record of advocating for the African-American community, and Gov.Cooper wants to help him since Stein is his choice to replace him when he leaves office.
Stein is reportedly leading his closest rival in the Democratic primary, former state Justice Morgan, three to one in the polls, but Morgan has proven to be very popular with Black voters across the state, and Stein may not want to take any chances.
And then there is the likely Black Republican opponent.
In a head-to-head contest with black Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, Stein in shown either slightly in the lead, or very close to Robinson in polling. Having Black voter support in the general election could help Stein win in November, observers say.
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