Former ND Attorney General Alleges 100-Plus Law Schools Discriminated Against Him
Former North Dakota Attorney General Nicholas Spaeth believes more than 100 law schools discriminated against him by refusing to consider him for teaching jobs because of his age.
Spaeth has sued one of the schools, Michigan State University College of Law, the National Law Journal reports. He alleges the school hired three much younger professors who were “significantly less qualified” than he was. The complaint (PDF) was filed on July 28 in Washington, D.C., federal court.
Spaeth, a 1977 Stanford law grad, formerly clerked for Justice Byron White and taught law at the University of Missouri and the University of Minnesota.
Michigan State law dean Joan Howarth told the NLJ that “we do not and have not discriminated on the basis of age.”
Spaeth targeted the other 100-plus law schools in complaints filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the NLJ says. So far, between 30 and 40 of the complaints have been dismissed. Spaeth’s lawyer, Lynne Bernabei, told the NLJ that her client expects to sue additional schools, either by filing separate cases or by adding them as defendants to the Michigan State suit.
TaxProf Blog noted the story.
