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A former dean of Thomas Edison State University sued the university, its president and its provost for discrimination based on his race (Black) and because he has diabetes, NJ Advance Media reported.
Joseph Youngblood II said in court papers he was harassed and discriminated against during his 18 years.
Specifically, the suit charges Cynthia Baum, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, and Merodie Hancock, the president, with discriminating and retaliating against Youngblood due to his race and his insulin-dependent diabetes. Both Baum and Hancock are white. They did not respond to a request for comment.
Hancock is alleged in the suit to have said “Black parents don’t love their children,” that “the Black community doesn’t value education” and the reason Black men don’t finish college is “their baby mothers and girlfriends don’t want them to be successful.”
Baum is alleged to have responded to a request by Youngblood to reschedule a meeting so he could get insulin in a discriminatory way. “She questioned why employees thought they get to have a ‘nice, neat lunch hour’ and commented that if their blood sugar is running low, they should drink a Pepsi,” the suit said.
