A former Ohio University employee is seeking more than $300,000 in damages from the university after he said he was improperly denied tenure due to his sexual orientation and religious beliefs.
Timothy Scott McKeny, who was employed by OU from August 2006 to the end of June 2013, filed a lawsuit on December 18 with both the Ohio Court of Claims and federal court. He asserted there had been a breach of contract, violation of contractual due process and discrimination based on both his sexual orientation and religious beliefs.
McKeny is agnostic, according to court documents.
McKeny was an assistant professor for the Patton College of Education’s department of teacher education and was denied tenure in 2012 by the school’s dean, Renee Middleton. That decision was supported by Provost Pam Benoit and OU President Roderick McDavis, according to court documents.
Middleton wrote her basis to deny McKeny’s tenure involved his lack of scholarship and research work, which did not meet the university’s standards.
“The thin amount of disseminated work to a national audience, specifically in peer-reviewed ventures, leaves me to an overall conclusion that your scholarship is insufficient to merit tenure. This finding is consistent with my original review of your dossier,” said a letter from Middleton to McKeny, submitted to the court by McKeny.
McKeny said he was denied tenure despite a unanimous vote in his favor by the Department of Teacher Education Tenure and Promotion Committee, as well as positive remarks from members of the committee on his “exemplary performance.”
McKeny’s subsequent appeals were also denied, though the Faculty Senate Subcommittee for Promotion and Tenure Committee supported his appeals.
Despite Middleton's remarks, McKeny asserted the reasons for the denial of his tenure were based on more personal matters — his sexual orientation and religious beliefs.
McKeny cited a 2011 executive order made by Ohio Governor John Kasich in his lawsuit. The order states “no person employed by any State Cabinet agency or by a State board or commission shall discriminate against any other state employee or candidate for employment on the basis of race, color, religion … or sexual orientation.”
The executive order also prohibits employers from firing or denying promotions based on these factors.
McKeny said during the years before and after he was denied tenure and promotion, “heterosexual candidates, who were equally or less qualified, were and have been promoted and approved tenure by Middleton, Benoit and McDavis.”
He argued the same for religious discrimination violation, saying other candidates, who share or have conformed to the same religious beliefs as Middleton, had been promoted and approved for tenure during the years before and after McKeny’s denial of tenure.
Other allegations listed in the lawsuits include civil conspiracy and interference with prospective advantage. The federal lawsuit also alleges a violation of the the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
McKeny is seeking “an injunction barring OU from future discrimination,” an excess of $300,000 for damages and “an order directing OU to grant him a tenured position as an associate professor.”
The university has not filed a response to the lawsuits.
— William T. Perkins contributed to this article.
@JoshuaLim93
