Female UA professor files discrimination suit

A University of Arizona chemistry professor has filed a class-action lawsuit alleging gender discrimination in pay and promotions at the Tucson campus.

Dr. Katrina Miranda, a tenured associate professor in the school’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, claims in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on Nov. 29 that there’s a pattern of systematic discrimination against female faculty members in UA’s College of Science.

“Dr. Miranda has suffered substantial pay disparities as compared to her male counterparts, and the university has failed to promote her in an equivalent manner to these male peers,” the lawsuit says.

Miranda has worked at the university since 2002 and received tenure in 2008. The Arizona Board of Regents is named as the defendant in the lawsuit, as the board oversees UA.

The lawsuit is the latest discrimination claim the university is facing. Earlier this year, Patricia MacCorquodale, former dean of the school’s Honors College, sued, saying she was underpaid for two decades compared with male colleagues.

Another former dean, Janice Cervelli, later joined the lawsuit. The matter is ongoing in U.S. District Court.

In the latest lawsuit, Miranda is seeking back pay, front pay, damages and attorneys’ fees on behalf of herself and any others who could be included in the class action. The class could include as many as 80 current and former female professors in the College of Science, according to the lawsuit.

Miranda’s lawsuit says, despite positive performance reviews and recognition for her work and service to the university, she was underpaid and denied promotions.

“Dr. Miranda’s experiences are emblematic of these prevailing patterns and trends at the college. Despite her remarkable credentials and achievements, her pay has languished at inordinately low levels for years, and she has been denied a long-earned promotion to (full) professor,” the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit estimates Miranda was underpaid by $9,000 to $36,000 per year from 2016 to 2018 compared with male professors of “similar or lesser seniority and performance.”

Miranda was paid about $100,000 for the 2017-18 academic year, while a male chemistry professor made $130,500 despite joining the university and getting tenure the same year as Miranda, the lawsuit claims.

Another male chemistry professor with one year of experience more than Miranda made more than $136,000, according to the court filing.

The pay disparity stems from the college’s policies and practices, the lawsuit says. Female professors are “subjected to humiliating and demeaning treatment” by male leaders and don’t have equal access to resources like research assistants and mentoring opportunities.

Miranda first complained to UA’s Office of Institutional Equity in December 2017 about pay concerns.