The University of Colorado Boulder reached a settlement agreement with a professor who filed a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit in June.
Paul Campos, a professor at the University of Boulder, won a settlement in the low six figures. The university agreed to pay his legal fees in full and permanently remove Law School Dean Lolita Buckner Inniss from her supervisory position. Both parties signed a dismissal of all claims on Tuesday.
“I'm very happy,” Campos said. “I got paid a lot of money, but more importantly, I got (Innis) permanently fired by his boss.”
In the settlement agreement, UW-Boulder denies any wrongdoing or liability.
“The University of Colorado Boulder has reached a settlement with Mr. Paul Campos,” said Nicole Mueksch, a spokeswoman for the University of Colorado Boulder. “The University has been in negotiations with Professor Campos to resolve this dispute since before his lawsuit was filed. Prior to reaching a settlement, Professor Campos dismissed the claims against Dean Innis and President DiStefano. .”
Campos claimed in her lawsuit that she was discriminated against with unequal pay because of her Latino ethnicity and was punished for taking parental leave, as evidenced by her low annual evaluation scores. When Mr. Campos reported the discrimination, he claimed he faced retaliation from Mr. Inniss and the university.
Mukush said Innis will remain dean of the law school.
“We don't normally talk about personnel matters, but given the university's denial of wrongdoing, there will be no leadership change,” Mueksh said.
Campos' attorney Dan Williams said the settlement was a great outcome.
“(Mr. Campos) is really pleased that the university recognized the need to pay all of his legal fees and pay him a significant amount on top of that,” Williams said. “I'm happy for him and proud of him for standing up for himself.”
Campos said litigation is a difficult process and puts a strain on relations with the administration. But Campos has no plans to leave UW-Boulder, he said.
“Obviously, it was pretty stressful. You don't want to sue your employer,” Campos said. “That's very unpleasant behavior.”
Williams said the lawsuit is over, but the investigation with UW-Boulder's Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance is still ongoing. The OIEC investigates internal complaints of discrimination, and Mr. Campos filed a complaint with the Office in August 2022.
“It's recidivist in a way to say there's this process and then say it's not real in the sense that it's going to take this long to get results,” Williams said. We have not reached a final conclusion yet.”
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