TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on May 16, 2022

An assistant professor of art history has filed a $2 million suit against Vanderbilt University, claiming she was denied tenure as a result of the school’s unequal treatment of female “spousal hires,” who are offered a job as part of an employment deal extended to their partners. Mireille Lee filed suit in Davidson County Chancery Court last week alleging the university engaged in unlawful gender discrimination against her in the denial of tenure in both 2015 and 2019, then retaliated against her when she complained. Lee joined the faculty in 2008 after Vanderbilt offered a job to her husband, Joe Rife, an assistant professor of classics and anthropology. Tennessee Lookout has more on the suit.