A lawsuit filed by a University history professor can proceed, despite a previous ruling siding with the University, said the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Oct. 5.

In the spring of 2018, history professor Alberto Martínez notified his supervisor, Jacqueline Jones, of pay and hiring disparities faced by Hispanic and Black faculty members. As a result, Jones appointed Martínez as head of an equity committee to investigate the claims of discrimination. 

In October of that year, Martínez released a report showing that Black and Hispanic faculty members receive lower pay and are less likely to be promoted to higher positions. In 2020, Martínez filed a lawsuit claiming Jones accused him of having an inappropriate relationship with a graduate student, making anti-Semitic comments and making sexist remarks against women as retaliation for distribution of the report. 

The U.S. Western District Court initially ruled that the report did not qualify as “protected activity” under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which protects individuals from retaliation by their employers when they point out discrimination in the workplace. The court said only emails containing Martínez’s initial complaints constituted protected activity and that he did not present enough evidence to connect Jones’ accusations to the initial complaints. 

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the District Court’s ruling, stating the equity report by Martínez did constitute protected activity. Therefore, the lawsuit can proceed to a jury who will determine if a connection can be made between Jones’ actions and the distribution of the report.

“I’m glad the Fifth Circuit reversed the judge’s decision,” Martínez said in an email. “After laboring at UT for 14 years, suddenly all (of these) allegations arose only after I found pay disparities and exclusion of Hispanic and Black employees from compensated leadership positions. I look forward to presenting the evidence to a jury. I hope to change policies at UT so that employees may have due process, the right to know all accusations against them and to have the equal employment opportunities that are promised to us by law.”