B.U. Loses in Sex Bias Ruling

BOSTON--In what was believed to be the first case of its kind, a U.S. appeals court upheld a ruling that Boston University must pay $215,000 in damages and grant tenure to a female professor who sued the university for sex discrimination.

Julia Prewitt Brown, 41, was a member of B.U.'s English Department from 1974 until she was denied tenure in 1981. At one point, university President John Silber termed the department "a damn matriarchy" although only only six out of 20 members of the department at the time were female, according to court testimony.

In a 68-page decision, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously agreed with a jury verdict and subsequent judgment by U.S. Judge Walter J. Skinner after a three-week trial in July 1987. The ruling was issued December 1, but Brown's attorney said she chose not to publicize it until Thursday.

The case was believed to be the first time a woman suing under the federal anti-discrimination law was reinstated with full tenure by an appeals court.

BU spokesperson Thomas Cashman said the university will ask the court for a rehearing.

"Boston University does not discriminate against anyone," Cashman said in a prepared statement. "This case involves issues of academic freedom. We believe that it is wrong for courts to substitute their opinions or the opinions of the jury for the scholarly judgment of the university in determining who shall teach."

B.U.'s official reason for not granting tenure was Brown's alleged "lack of academic excellence." But Brown was unanimously recommended for tenure by her B.U. colleagues both inside and outside the department, according to the appellate decision.

"I think it's going to be a real shot in the arm for women as well as minorities," said Barbara Lee, an attorney on the faculty at Rutgers University and the author of Academics in Court.

"It's extremely difficult to win these cases," she said. "Most times the judge accepts the universities' arguments."

Earlier this year, Harvard won a similar suit filed by former Associate Professor Barbara Bund Jackson '66, who charged that she was denied tenure at the Business School because she is a woman.

The B.U. decision, written by Chief Judge Levin Campbell, touched on remarks made by Silber in tenure reviews of other female faculty members.

According to the ruling, Silber told one female professor that a person with her credentials would do well "and anyway... your husband is a parachute, so why are you worried?"

Campbell wrote that "[Silber's comments reflected a patronizing attitude toward women."

Brown, who spent 10 years fighting her case, called the decision "a victory for all of us."