Professor sues Duke for racial discrimination, arguing that Asians aren’t promoted
A Duke University professor in the School of Medicine has filed a federal lawsuit arguing that race discrimination at the Durham school has stalled his career and thwarted his academic advancement.
Jason Wei Locasale, who identified himself as biracial Asian with a medium-dark complexion, described a culture at Duke in which white people are hired and retained over Asians. He listed 14 white male and female employees who have found support or gotten promotions, and also cited an instance in which Asian students were chastised for speaking Chinese on campus.
Locasale accused the university of delaying his promotion to full professor; subjecting him to verbal abuse and physical intimidation; denying him access to research project funding; bullying him into withdrawing his application for a federal grant; accusing him of being impaired without justification; suspending him; barring him from campus; and numerous other acts of retaliation.
Michael Schoenfeld, Duke’s vice president for public affairs and government relations, said Tuesday the university does not comment on pending litigation.
Locasale listed a long string of academic accomplishments, including more than 150 articles in peer-reviewed journals, calling himself “one of the world’s leading experts in the field of metabolism” whose “discoveries have brought hope to people afflicted by cancer.”
In the suit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court, he singled out Dr. Donald McDonnell, chairman of the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, for “his insistence on having small talk and requiring direct eye contact during conversations, after he has been told that this is not within Asian culture.”
Locasale added that last year, when he tried to report his grievances to human resources staff, he learned that human resources reports to McDonnell. He was subjected, the suit said, to a “cultural” audit by order of the dean of the School of Medicine, then later a billing and compliance audit, neither of which he said showed any wrongdoing.
In the suit, Locasale said that he was instructed to find a doctor to conduct a fitness-for-duty evaluation, then told in January he was being placed on leave.
Locasale, who joined Duke staff in 2015, said he has filed five claims of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and was granted the right to sue in October.
He is represented by Durham attorney Janet Lennon, according to court documents. He is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
This story was originally published January 28, 2020 at 3:10 PM.