College hit with discrimination suit
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By Cristina Kumka Herald Staff - Published: January 9, 2009
Ludlow teacher Joseph J. Brown's less than fond memories of his alma mater's nursing program have led to a federal discrimination lawsuit he filed against Castleton State College.
The lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Rutland details Brown's claim that he was discriminated against numerous times in 2003 and 2004 because he wasn't like other nursing students — he's male and of Asian-Italian descent with "a darker than Caucasian skin color," according to the complaint.
The 26-year-old physical education and health teacher at Ludlow Elementary School is seeking "compensatory damages, costs and attorneys' fees for the racial and gender discrimination."
Brown's attorney John J. Boylan wouldn't say how much money the teacher is suing for.
Brown claims he was accused of cheating twice by the same professor who then told other students about it, then given lower marks because another instructor claimed he "looked dirty," and was dismissed from classes for not having the right answers when his white, female counterparts weren't dismissed even though they didn't have the right answers either.
Brown decided to withdraw from the nursing program in fall 2004 after failing the first test of the semester and getting no support from the instructors or the department's chair to stay enrolled.
The lawsuit comes four years after the last instance of discrimination and Brown's graduation from another program at the college because "lengthy" settlement negotiations fell through, Boylan said Wednesday.
According to Boylan, Brown was falsely accused of cheating and after he said something about it, numerous other acts of discrimination followed.
"Those allegations were dismissed after he demanded to be heard on the issue," Boylan said.
"In nursing schools nationwide there is insidious discrimination of male students and it reared its ugly head in terms of Joseph," according to Boylan, who said he read that discrimination among male nursing students is a problem across the country.
The attorney said he was aware of other males in the college's nursing program but he didn't know of any others who had filed lawsuits.
Boylan said nothing had been done in response to his client's complaint.
Bill Reedy, the attorney representing the college in the case, said he hadn't received a copy of the suit and declined to comment on its merits.
"We would comment through the judicial process," Reedy said.
Brown, a resident of Springfield, said Wednesday he graduated from the college's physical education department in the fall of 2008 after dropping nursing to become a teacher.
Contact Cristina Kumka at cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com.
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