Rochelle Hoffman alleged in a lawsuit that the University of Wisconsin demoted her from a diversity-related position for being white.
Hoffman was not fit to have a position serving non-white students, the New York Post reported.
“Despite Hoffman’s exceptional qualifications, however, students, faculty and staff opposed her appointment to Interim Director of MSS solely because she was white,” the complaint says. “It was exclusively Hoffman’s identity as white that was the issue; criticism was about her race and color, not her qualifications.”
“You hired a white woman as the Interim Director?” one student was quoted as asking.
Another student asked, “Do you personally feel white staff can do as effective a job as a person of color, within a space for people of color?”
Hoffman sent an email to Wisconsin State Senator Patrick Testin (R), describing the working environment as “hostile” and “racially charged.”
She added that her experience as the university’s Interim Director of Multicultural Student Services, and later Assistant Director, “dragged out over 10 months and irrevocably damaged my career.”
A spokesperson for the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire sent a statement about the situation to Fox News Digitial.
“As is the case with all pending litigation, UW-Eau Claire will not offer a statement or comment on the lawsuit. UW-Eau Claire does not discriminate based on race in any employment decisions,” they said.
