Who is Elizabeth Blackwell? Columbia University grad sues author Sheena Iyengar for gender discrimination
MANHATTAN NEW YORK CITY: A Columbia University graduate has filed a lawsuit at the Manhattan Supreme Court claiming that her professor gave her degrading "female" jobs including doing her makeup and making reservations. Elizabeth Blackwell graduated with honors in 2017 after completing her psychology bachelor's degree. The uni alum started working as a Research Associate for Sheena Iyengar, a professor at the Columbia Business School and the author of Art of Choosing, after a protracted five-month interview process.
But as per the complaint, Iyengar, 52, "insisted" that Blackwell complete jobs that included "personal and supportive administrative and secretarial tasks." According to Blackwell in an interview with the Washington Square News, "These tasks included applying Iyengar's makeup and booking restaurants for her romantic dates." The lawsuit claims that Blackwell's male companion "encountered none of the obstacles that Ms. Blackwell was forced to overcome."
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According to New York Post, the lawsuit claims that Columbia University grad Blackwell alleges Iyengar quickly gave the male coworker several of her research responsibilities, which was beyond his program coordinator job role, because "she was a woman." In the lawsuit, Blackwell charged the professor with engaging in "disturbing gender-based discrimination behavior and retaliation." According to the complaint, Columbia fired Blackwell in January 2019 and claimed that her position had been discontinued.
Iyengar soon reported Blackwell's harassment to Columbia. According to discussions that were taped and acquired by WSN, Iyengar said that she had supported Blackwell "at every step" and that there was "no fit" between their interests, but she would still write a letter of recommendation for her. Iyengar stated, "If there was discrimination in this office, it was, it is, the discrimination that I felt as a blind professor who was being perpetually bullied by my employee and does not accommodate the very needs of this position."
Daily Mail reported that according to court records, Andrew Schilling, one of the two lawyers defending Iyengar and Columbia, must provide a response to the case by January 2023. Despite Columbia's claims that it conducted a preliminary investigation into the dispute, Blackwell states in her complaint that many of her concerns were ignored. "It became very clear to me at that point that they weren't willing to support me." Blackwell's contract was terminated by the university in January 2019 and was referred to as "retaliatory" by her attorney David DeToffol, who initially requested to be dismissed from the case due to "irreconcilable differences" but then withdrew that request.
Blackwell claimed that after leaving the university, she had a difficult time finding employment and dealt with a number of problems, including melancholy, insomnia, and anxiety, which she blamed on working with Iyengar.
In the workplace and in academics, gender discrimination is still a problem that is widely prevalent. According to the Pew Research Center, 42% of American working women stated they had experienced gender discrimination at work. The way Columbia handled claims of prejudice has previously drawn criticism.