University of Michigan seeks dismissal of discrimination lawsuit filed by fired DEI official
University of Michigan seeks dismissal of discrimination lawsuit filed by fired DEI official
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University of Michigan seeks dismissal of discrimination lawsuit filed by fired DEI official

🕒︎ 2025-10-21

Copyright M Live Michigan

University of Michigan seeks dismissal of discrimination lawsuit filed by fired DEI official

ANN ARBOR, MI — The University of Michigan is asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit from a former diversity, equity and inclusion administrator three months after she alleged UM violated her civil rights when she was fired in late 2024. Rachel Dawson, a Black woman, was previously director of UM’s Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives and ousted after the university investigated accusations she made antisemitic comments at a conference earlier in the year. In its motion, UM alleged it received a “credible report” that Dawson told two women at the conference the university “is controlled by rich Jews,” including “rich donors and Jewish board members” who had power of then-UM President Santa Ono, and that her office didn’t “work with Jews” because they are “wealthy and privileged and take care of themselves.” The university has maintained Dawson was “appropriately terminated” and a spokesperson reiterated this in a Tuesday statement. A representative for Dawson could not be immediately reached as of late afternoon on Tuesday, Oct. 21. She first filed an intent to sue the university this year in the Michigan Court of Claims before filing a complaint against UM’s Board of Regents in U.S. District Court in mid-July, alleging she was racially discriminated against when UM revoked a written warning and instead caved to pressure to fire her despite concerns she raised about experiencing bias. On Oct. 14, the university filed the motion to dismiss Dawson’s federal complaint, denying plausibility of Dawson’s claims that the university exhibited “discriminatory intent” under Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Those sections of the federal statute cover general discrimination and employment discrimination. Dawson’s court of claims suit, which did not yet appear to be on the docket as of Tuesday, Oct. 21, would cite similar allegations under state statute, according to her legal counsel. She reportedly engaged in a private conversation with the two women at a conference organized by the American Association of Colleges and Universities in March 2024. According to Dawson’s complaint, the other women allegedly accused UM of fostering an antisemitic environment, and upon disagreeing, Dawson said she pointed to the then-recently opened Raoul Wallenberg Institute and support organizations like Hillel that were available to Jewish students. Dawson contends she was then asked questions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before she, as the complaint describes, “left the encounter feeling shaken up by the two women’s hostility.” After accusations from the conference emerged, the Anti-Defamation League later sent a letter to Ono about Dawson, who denied the comments as described and believed she’d been wrongfully accused. In September 2024, Dawson reportedly learned the university tapped law firm Covington & Burling LLP to investigate the issue. She alleged the counsel concluded it couldn’t be determined whether she made the remarks and that it was likely the substance of the conversation fell somewhere between her recollection and that of the other women. “Over the course of several weeks, Covington conducted an investigation that included interviews with Dawson and the two professors about their conversation at the March conference,” UM states in its motion. “After completing their investigation, Covington concluded that the weight of available evidence indicated Dawson made the statements attributed to her in the ADL’s August 2024 letter.” Dawson claimed she received a warning in October 2024 before the university placed her on leave Nov. 1. Administrators later told her, her suit claims, that other past conduct at a student protest that August was a factor in the decision to fire her. Amid the war in Gaza, a pro-Palestinian group organized a “die in” protest at a UM student organization recruitment event. Although some students were arrested, charges were eventually dropped. Dawson claimed she acted as a liaison between UM police and students. What she called a “sham disciplinary review conference” followed in early December last year. It was only at the review, the university claims, that for the first time Dawson shared concerns that “discrimination and bias may have informed” UM’s decision. The motion to dismiss called Dawson’s discrimination claims “baseless,” adding they reflect “a continuing and fundamental misunderstanding of the university and its values.” Dawson’s termination also came just a few months before UM’s massive rollback of DEI programs and closure of related offices under Ono, who departed in May.

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