Closing arguments are ahead as a jury trial concludes in a religious discrimination lawsuit filed against Emporia State University and two administrators.
Former Information and Design Technology professor Dusti Howell filed suit against ESU, current Dean of the Teachers College Joan Brewer and current IDT department head Jim Persinger in 2022, saying Brewer and Persinger conspired to violate his civil rights by not letting him take part in certain holy day observances “as part of his Christian walk,” also accusing Brewer and Persinger of not handling matters in good faith about his religious practices while ESU allegedly began a plan to force Howell, a tenured professor, out in 2018 — before he was eligible for early retirement and before the university adopted the Kansas Board of Regents’ Framework for Workforce Management policy that led to the dismissals of over 30 faculty and staff.
A professor at ESU for nearly 25 years, Howell has also filed a charge of discrimination with the Kansas Human Rights Commission.
Howell has been requesting compensation for loss of wages, lost bonus pay, lost seniority, lost preferential shifts, extreme stress and anxiety and other items. Howell is seeking back pay, reinstatement or front pay as part of the lawsuit.
