The sight of Prof. Emily Cloyd cruising the corridors of Mason Hall in her motorized cart is familiar to many University students. But what many people do not know is that Prof. Cloyd settled a lawsuit Tuesday in which she alleged the University discriminated against her under the Americans with Disabilities Act and violated her rights as a tenured professor.
"I am extremely proud of what Prof. Cloyd has accomplished. For her this was always about protecting the rights of others," said Jeffrey Herron, Cloyd's attorney.
The Office of the General Counsel declined to comment on the case yesterday afternoon.
Cloyd, who suffers from self-described "miscellaneous back problems," said it was never her intention to bring a lawsuit against the University.
"I tried very hard to get the matter settled within the University. I did not want to sue," she said.
In February 1997, Cloyd filed a lawsuit stemming from her removal from her position as an English professor in March 1995 for missing what the University considered to be an unacceptable number of classes. She was placed on paid leave until the following fall when she was reinstated after passing University-required medical examinations.
The lawsuit contended that by requiring Cloyd to see a doctor, the University violated the ADA's restrictions on employers to require medical exams only if they are job related or consistent with normal business policies.
The lawsuit further claimed that Cloyd was subject to violations of her tenure when the University removed her without acknowledging what Herron called "certain process rights" that a tenured faculty member is entitled to upon removal.
Cloyd said the most significant part of the settlement is not the $100,000 payment she will receive, but the effects the lawsuit will have on current University policies regarding the removal of faculty members.
As part of the settlement, Provost Nancy Cantor has agreed to meet with the deans of all the schools and colleges within the University and request the development of written guidelines outlining the procedures under which faculty members can be removed and appeal their removals.
Cloyd said this aspect of the settlement was her aim all along.
"I want to do whatever I can to ensure that nobody else has to go through what I had to go through," she said. "That was my intention in filing the lawsuit, and I think the provision for the possibility of a new policy with regard to removal from the classroom is extremely important." The settlement also mandates a procedure by which Cloyd can request a teaching assistant and allows Cloyd to not teach any courses during the winter terms.
Although as part of the settlement the University admits no wrongdoing, LSA Dean Shirley Neuman sent a letter to Cloyd in which she apologized on behalf of the University for the conditions of Cloyd's removal.
Herron said he felt it was important not to lose sight of this aspect of the settlement.
"Litigation is generally regarded as a chase for money ... but here, this is clearly not the case," he said.
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