EMPORIA, Kan. ― A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that alleged Emporia State University discriminated against a Black assistant professor after he complained about a racial incident.
The lawsuit filed by Melvin Hale in October 2015 was dismissed last week without prejudice, meaning it could be refiled.
Hale claimed the school and some top administrators discriminated against him and his wife, Angelica, after they said in April 2015 they found a note with a racial slur near her office in the School of Library and Information Management. The Hales said school administrators at first did nothing, then conducted a biased investigation and retaliated against them for pushing the issue.
The university said its investigation found no evidence of a hate crime or racial discrimination. University officials were not available Thursday to comment.
