A former dean of Thomas Edison State University is suing the university, its president and vice chancellor for discrimination based on his race (black) and because he has diabetes. NJ Advance Media reported.
Joseph Youngblood II said in court documents that he was harassed and discriminated against for 18 years.
Specifically, the lawsuit accuses Cynthia Baum, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, and Merody Hancock, president, of discriminating against and retaliating against Youngblood because of his race and insulin-dependent diabetes. Both Baum and Hancock are white. They did not respond to a request for comment.
In the lawsuit, Hancock claims that “black parents don’t love their kids,” that “the black community doesn’t value education,” and that the reason black men don’t graduate from college is because “their baby mothers and girlfriends don’t like I don’t I want them to be successful.”
Baum allegedly responded to Youngblood’s request to reschedule the appointment so he could receive insulin in a discriminatory manner. “She questioned why the employees thought they had a ‘nice, neat lunch’ and replied that if their blood sugar was low, they should have a Pepsi,” the lawsuit states.
