BUZZ
A former employee sued Liberty University last week, alleging racial discrimination and retaliation for whistleblowing in a case that resulted in a $14 million fine from the federal government.
However, the university contends the employee was fired for “legitimate business reasons.”
Erika Woolfolk, who is black, worked in the Virginia university’s Office of Equity and Compliance for Title IX up until 2024, Ministry Watch reports.
Her federal lawsuit alleges she “was subjected to racially discriminatory and hostile treatment, denied promotions and advancement opportunities in favor of less qualified white employees, assigned disproportionate workloads, [and] denied remote work privileges afforded to white colleagues.”
Examples in her lawsuit include a co-worker “who stereotyped ‘Blacks as either “black-black” or “white-black”’ with more positive connotations for the latter.” In another, she alleged several fellow employees joked in a team chat about naming someone’s new dog after Confederate generals, USA Today reports.
Additionally, Woolfolk alleges the university fired her “in retaliation for her cooperation with federal investigations and her complaints about discriminatory and unlawful conduct by University officials.”
In 2024, under the Biden administration, Liberty was fined $14 million for allegedly failing to track and report cases of sexual violence on campus, The College Fix reported.
As USA Today reports:
Woolfolk’s work involved investigating cases of sexual violence on campus, of which she alleged her bosses would improperly predetermine their outcomes, according to her lawsuit. She claimed in the filing that she shared that information and more about the university’s “systemic violations of federal law” with the U.S. Department of Education.
She also claims she was fired for it.
She is now the second former Liberty University employee who has alleged in lawsuits that they reported the university’s improper and unethical investigations into sexual assault and were later terminated. Most recently, Peter Brake sued the university along similar grounds and his firing was cited in Woolfolk’s filing. Both suits also name as a defendant Ashley Reich, a former top administrator at the university who oversaw the Title IX office.
The university declined to comment on Woolfolk’s specific allegations, but told USA Today in a statement that she was fired for “legitimate business reasons related to Liberty’s continuing effort to provide excellent service in the Title IX investigation function.”
“It is unfortunate that Ms. Woolfolk’s lawsuit attributes bad faith to Ms. Ashley Reich, who has been recognized for her outstanding contributions to Liberty University’s compliance program,” the statement said. “As a faith-based institution and equal opportunity employer, Liberty has impartial measures in place to assure the fair and equal treatment of all employees.”
A former male employee who now claims he is a woman also filed a lawsuit against the Christian university last year, alleging gender discrimination, The Fix reported.
The evangelical Protestant university believes the “denial of birth sex by self-identification with a different gender” is a “sinful act prohibited by God.”
