One of two former Emporia State University employees involved in a long-running lawsuit against the university did not get the relief she sought from a federal appeals court — and neither did the university.
In August 2020, Angelica Hale was awarded $42,000 in back pay, nearly $3,600 in retirement benefits, almost $2,800 in tuition assistance and a prejudgment interest amount of nearly $16,000. The back pay reflects a period shortly after her resignation from ESU in July 2015 to when her husband Melvin, at the time a professor in the School of Library and Information Management, left the university in May 2016 after being told his contract would not be renewed. It also represented roughly nine months of pay given her projected salary of $56,000 a year had she been hired for a marketing coordinator position that was discussed but ultimately went unposted.
A federal district court judge denied front pay for Angelica Hale in the 2020 ruling, saying the back pay was sufficient under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to make Hale’s situation whole.
Hale challenged the end date for her back pay award, but a federal appeals court declined to make changes, saying it’s not district court’s job to help litigants presenting their cases and there was no evidence that district court wrongly characterized her work history.
In a related ruling, the appeals court affirmed the district court’s judgment that found Emporia State liable for Title VII retaliation, denying the university’s motion to dismiss the case.
Like her husband, Angelica Hale was an employee in the SLIM Department when the racial slur was discovered. Melvin Hale reported the incident to former dean Gwen Alexander, and later the couple presented their concerns to Provost David Cordle. The Hales also filed a hate crime complaint to ESU Police and Safety, but the department concluded there was no crime.
Both Hales filed separate $10 million lawsuits against ESU in 2016. Melvin Hale’s lawsuit was dismissed in 2019.
