EAST LANSING, Mich. — Rema Vassar, a trustee of East Lansing-based Michigan State University, has taken her long fight with the rest of the board to federal court, suing President Kevin Guskiewicz and several current and former trustees over what she calls discrimination and retaliation.
Her 40-page complaint, filed Oct. 20 in the federal court for Michigan’s eastern half, says she was singled out because she is a Black woman and was disciplined more harshly than white colleagues for similar conduct.
Besides Guskiewicz, the defendants include Board Chair Brianna Scott, Trustee Rebecca Bahar-Cook, former trustees Dan Kelly and Dianne Byrum, the university’s top lawyer, Brian Quinn, and board secretary Stefan Fletcher.
Vassar asks the court to declare the board’s revised ethics code unconstitutional, block its enforcement, and give back her committee seats and trustee privileges. She lost the chair’s post after an outside investigation, and the board later censured her and Trustee Mike Balow for refusing to sign the code.
The suit does not ask for money from the state, dropping a demand of more than $25 million floated in May. A university spokesperson said MSU will answer the claims through the proper legal channels.
Section: More Lansing MI education news
Filed under: Lansing MI Education News
