State turns down IC professor's discrimination claim

The New York State Division of Human Rights announced that there was no probable cause for the accusations made by former IC professor Margo Ramlal-Nankoe.

She claimed she was unfairly denied tenure at the college and did not received due process of appeal. She wasoriginally denied tenure in the college's sociology department in 2005, and again in 2007 after a second review.

Ramlal-Nankoe claimed she was denied tenure based on her politics and her teachings about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which she said were considered anti-Israeli. She said she also faced racial andsexual harassment while working in the sociology department.

The Board of Trustees at the time said that her claim "is unsubstantiated and at best serves only as a smokescreen for the less than excellent performance by Dr. Ramlal-Nankoe in the areas used as an assessment for the granting of tenure at Ithaca College."

After the Board of Trustees refused to reverse the tenure review board's decision not to grant tenure, Ramlal-Nankoe filed the gender discrimination case with the division in March 2009.

The division's 16-month investigation concluded there was not enough evidence to support probable cause and that most of the allegations were beyond the statute of limitations.

College spokesman Dave Maley said, "The college is pleased that the NYS Division of Human Rights, after fullyinvestigating the claims, affirmed the college's position that she was not discriminated against in any way."

The determination, passed down July 2, reads, "There is insufficient evidence to indicate that the complainant, a tenure-track professor at respondent's college, was subjected to a continuing pattern of discriminatory actions with regard to her tenure review process, or that discriminatory bias was responsible for complainant's negative tenure decision, whether based on race/color, sex, national origin, or retaliation.

"The bulk of the allegations of the instant complaint are not timely, stretching beyond the one-year statute of limitations by several years. Regardless, a review of the claims, appeals, and decisions attached to thoseuntimely assertions shows that the complainant's concerns were addressed by respondent in a reasonable and effective manner."

Denial of tenure was apparently based on shortcomings in Ramlal-Nankoe's teaching ability, according to the determination.

Calls to Ramlal-Nankoe and her lawyer were not returned by Thursday.

(2010-08-11/Ithaca Journal)