American University’s Age Discrimination Problem

Inside Higher Education recently wrote about two of our clients, both of whom were recently denied tenure at American University. Even though they were both recommended for tenure by their departments, at the school and university level, and by the outside evaluators, the provost unilaterally rejected their tenure applications, incorrectly claiming their research was insufficient. A faculty grievance committee found likely statistical evidence of age discrimination in the tenure process, with candidates over 50 being denied tenure at 2.5 times the overall tenure denial rate. Our clients have raised age discrimination claims against American University.