This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
UPDATE 9/27, 5:04 p.m. This story has been updated to include a comment from University spokesperson Kim Broekhuizen.
Nicole Hamilton, former lecturer in the University of Michigan’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, filed a lawsuit against the U-M Board of Regents Monday for alleged retaliation after she reported sex discrimination, according to a press release from Hamilton’s law firm, Salvatore Prescott Porter & Porter.
According to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Michigan Daily, Hamilton alleges that she faced discrimination on the basis of her identity as a transgender woman throughout her employment, which began in 2017. Hamilton then reported the alleged discrimination to the department. The complaint alleges that the department then unfairly denied her a promotion in the spring of 2021, simultaneously ending her employment as an EECS lecturer.
In response, Hamilton claims she filed a Title IX complaint with the University’s Office of Institutional Equity in September 2021, alleging sex discrimination and retaliation for her initial complaint. Following the Title IX complaint, the EECS 440 class that Hamilton was supposed to return to the University to teach was canceled for the winter 2022 term.
In an email to The Daily, University spokesperson Kim Broekhuizen said the University has not yet received any official communication from Hamilton’s lawyers.
“We have not yet been served on this matter, and will review once we are served,” Broekhuizen wrote.
The Michigan Daily News Staff can be reached at news@michigandaily.com.