Northwestern filed a motion Monday asking a federal court to dismiss an ongoing lawsuit that alleges the Pritzker School of Law discriminates in its hiring process.
The lawsuit, filed by conservative activist group Faculty, Alumni and Students Opposed to Racial Preferences in July, claims that the law school hires women and people of color over white men who have “better credentials.”
The lawsuit points to several white male candidates — including University of California, Los Angeles, law Prof. Eugene Volokh and Duke University law Prof. Ernest A. Young — who it claims to have been rejected from postings at NU for their race.
According to a footnote in the complaint, however, none of the professors mentioned played any role in the lawsuit.
It attributes the hiring of several women faculty and faculty of color in the law school to what it claims as affirmative action practices.
In the University’s dismissal memo, it asked the federal court to dismiss the lawsuit over a number of flaws in the complaint. The University’s defense includes the argument that the FASORP’s complaint lacks any standing and facts to fundamentally support any of its claims.
“The FAC lacks merit. It serves only as a vehicle to baselessly malign professors due to their race and gender and to advance the political agenda of FASORP and the organizations behind it,” the memorandum reads.
A University spokesperson declined to comment on the motion.
Email: [email protected]
X: @Jerrwu
Related Stories:
— Lawsuit against Pritzker School of Law alleges its hiring process discriminates against white men
— Northwestern affirms commitment to diversity after SCOTUS strikes down affirmative action
— Northwestern to consider race in admissions through essays, compliant with Supreme Court ruling
