Michigan law prof sues over portrayal as a dominatrix
Laura Beny has been a law professor at University of Michigan Law School since 2003. She was the school’s second Black female tenure-track professor.
But the relationship has gone sour. In a lawsuit against the school, Beny blames the school and specifically Dean Mark West, who she says portrayed her as a dominatrix. Beny, the associate director of the school’s African Studies Center, goes on to say she was “demeaned and horrified.”
Beny filed various administrative complaints with the university advocating for diversity, equity and inclusion. She claims the school retaliated by sanctioning her. Her lawsuit also references other incidents that ultimately led Beny to seek medical leave “due to psychological injury incurred on the job.”
She was released from medical leave in May, but West said Beny will not be teaching for an “indefinite period,” according to the suit.
Beny said the discrimination includes not receiving pay raises at the same times as a white male professor and a white female professor who were hired at the same salary as she was. She also allegedly was subjected to sexual harassment and sexist remarks, including ones from West.
The school denies the allegations.
“No Zionist speaker” bylaw at Berkeley
Erwin Chemerinsky is one of the most respected people in legal education, a renowned constitutional scholar and dean of University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. So how did the Jewish dean respond when students called for student organizations to boycott any entity that is complicit “in the occupation of the Palestinian territories and/or supports the actions of the apartheid state of Israel”?
Chemerinsky made it clear that the school has no position on the issue and pointed out that it is a First Amendment right of students to express their views on any issue.
Nine student organizations at the school have adopted the “no Zionist speaker” bylaw. The bylaw also asserts that organizations will not have members who “have expressed and continued to hold views . . . in support of Zionism, the apartheid state of Israel and the occupation of Palestine.”
