EAST ST. LOUIS - One juror among eight prevented a verdict at a discrimination trial of former Associate Professor Tawanda Greer-Medley against Southern Illinois University.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Gilbert Sison declared mistrial on Feb. 16, after the jury foreperson sent him a note that a juror declared they would never change their mind.
The university hired Greer-Medley to work in its psychology department starting in 2015.
She taught for five years as the only black person on the psychology faculty.
In the 2018-2019 academic year, a department committee unanimously recommended tenure and promotion to full professor.
However, liberal arts Dean Andrew Balkansky and university provost Meera Komarraju recommended tenure but not promotion.
Greer-Medley filed a grievance, and Komarraju denied it.
Greer-Medley voluntarily left the university in 2020 and sued the trustees.
Her counsel Shari Rhode of Carbondale claimed the university promoted two white females from associate professor to professor in the same time frame.
The university moved for summary judgment, claiming jurors wouldn’t conclude that the recommendation to deny promotion would have changed if Greer-Medley was white.
The university claimed she couldn’t appropriately compare herself to the white females.
Sison denied summary judgment last year, finding the comparisons appropriate.
He wrote that a jury could find the university’s explanation for not promoting Greer-Medley was false and could readily infer that the university discriminated against her because of race.
“The court, however, likewise finds that a reasonable jury could find the opposite,” he wrote.
Trial began on Feb. 12 with opening statements from Rhode for Greer-Medley and Thomas Wilson of Hepler Broom in Springfield for the university.
Greer-Medley testified first and continued the next day for a total of about four hours.
On Feb. 14, Balkansky testified for about four hours.
Komarraju testified and continued the next day for a total of about four hours.
Greer-Medley rested at noon, and the university immediately rested.
Wilson moved for judgment as a matter of law, stating Komarraju testified that she thoroughly reviewed Greer-Medley’s record and arrived at her own independent decision.
He stated Komarraju awarded tenure to Greer-Medley, “which is essentially awarding plaintiff lifetime employment.”
He added that Komarraju’s judgment should not be disturbed.
“Indeed, the issue ultimately is not whether provost Komarraju’s judgment as to Plaintiff’s record was right, but whether it was honest,” he wrote.
Wilson stated the university provided her with a road map for obtaining a promotion.
He stated Komarraju and Balkansky hoped she would put in the necessary work and be granted promotion the next time she applied.
Sison denied the motion, and jurors heard closing arguments.
The jury retired at 3 p.m. and later sent a note asking, “Are we allowed to stop for the day?”
Sison sent them home and brought them back on Friday, Feb. 16, even though the courthouse closed due to snow.
The jurors deliberated for six hours before Sison received notice of a holdout.
The foreperson wrote, “The rest are in agreement. What do we do?”
Sison excused them and declared a mistrial.
Greer-Medley currently serves as the Associate Director of The Diversity Institute with Cleveland State University.
According to her biography, Greer-Medley is an expert in sociocultural contributors to health and health disparities.
"Dr. Greer-Medley's published work include studies on the relationship between racism and mental health, impacts of provider racial biases for African American hypertensive patients, neural correlates of racism and race-related social perception, mental health impacts of racially hostile campus climates, coping strategies in managing and reducing stress for African Americans, and culturally-congruent interventions for African Americans diagnosed with hypertension," her biography states.