WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An Ohio professor alleges in a lawsuit that Wichita State University retracted an employment offer after she told them she was pregnant.
The Wichita Eagle reports that Evangeline Heiliger says that she revealed her pregnancy for the first time and asked about childcare in March when she was offered a tenure-track job as the assistant professor of women's studies. The suit says a dean told her the next day in an email that he "had become aware that she was no longer available for the position" and was removing her from consideration.
The suit says Heiliger never indicated she wasn't available. Heiliger is a 41-year-old visiting assistant professor of gender, sexuality and feminist studies at Ohio's Oberlin College.
The university says its investigation determined that no laws were broken.
Wichita State issued the following statement to WKYC on Monday:
“The university remains committed to creating a fair and equitable workplace and does not discriminate in its employment practices. An administrative agency investigated the claim prior to this lawsuit being filed and didn’t conclude that the university violated the law. The university continues to deny the allegations set forth in the complaint.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.