Minnesota State University, Mankato paid $117,500 in November to settle a discrimination lawsuit brought by a job candidate who claimed he was passed over because of his accent.
Hong Kong native Ka-Wah Wong taught astronomy at Mankato for four semesters starting in 2014 before applying for a tenure-track assistant professorship in 2017.
Wong said he was a highly-rated instructor, had more teaching experience than the two other finalists – both of whom were white – and had secured nearly $700,000 in federal research grants as a principal investigator.
But one of the white candidates got the job after the other one declined Mankato’s offer.
When colleagues learned Wong wasn’t offered the job, some expressed surprise and voiced concerns about the hiring process, according to the lawsuit Wong filed in 2021 in Blue Earth County District Court.
The finalists had been required to conduct a research seminar and deliver a sample lecture in front of student and faculty evaluators.
Wong obtained scoresheets from the evaluators, which showed that while the students understood him well enough, several faculty complained about his Cantonese accent. One said he understood only about 15 percent of what Wong said, while others said Wong’s “accent could be a problem,” that he was hard to understand and follow, and that they had “some difficulty with the accent.”
“In a summary report, the (search) committee wrote that Wong’s lower score was ‘driven almost entirely by his scores for ‘Clarity of Speech,’” according to Wong’s complaint.
Human rights complaint
Wong in December 2018 filed a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, alleging that Mankato discriminated against him on the basis of race or national origin.
The department began investigating but dismissed the case in July 2021 because too much time had passed since the complaint first was filed.
“Through no fault of the parties, to date, MDHR has been unable to devote the time and resources necessary to complete this investigation. Multiple witness interviews are necessary to determine whether the facts support a finding that respondent violated the MHRA,” Commissioner Rebecca Lucero wrote, adding that the dismissal “will allow (Wong) the opportunity to pursue his claims in court.”
Wong sued the university three months later.
According to Lucero’s order, the university said in response to the human rights complaint that the two white candidates out-performed Wong.
In a statement Friday, the university said it is “fully committed to equal opportunity and non-discrimination in employment and education, and we are proud of our track record in this area. We believe the diversity of our faculty, staff, and students is a tremendous asset and is an important contributor to the student experience. We deny any wrong-doing, however, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further on the personnel matter involving Dr. Wong.”
According to the settlement agreement, $62,032 of the payout went to Wong and $55,468 to his attorney at Fabian May and Anderson.
Now an assistant physics professor at the State University of New York, Wong said in a news release that he “hopes that his case will have a positive impact in promoting the reduction of bias against members of minority groups both within and outside academia.”