*A white male professor at a historically black Tuskegee University is suing mad after claiming he’s being discriminated against because of his race and age.
As reported by USA Today, Marshall Burns, a professor of physics, filed a federal discrimination lawsuit July 19, alleging that despite putting in four-decades of work at the university, he’s not being paid what he’s worth. Burns alleges he’s pulling in $18,000 to $30,000 less than younger professors. Burns took legal action after talks with Tuskegee over the last year failed.
“I’m not a greedy person,” he said. “I applaud people who are successful. They’ve earned it. I think I’ve earned it, but I haven’t received it. I have tried and tried and tried everything I know.”
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Tuskegee University Professor Marshall Burns is suing the HBCU for age, race discrimination. https://t.co/womPbV9ttX
— stargazette.com (@stargazette) July 24, 2019
According to court records, Burns began working at Tuskegee in 1976 as an assistant professor and by 1980 he was promoted to full professor. During his tenure “he wrote a textbook, lobbied the Legislature for increased university funding and helped found the school’s physics major during his tenure at the school,” USA Today writes.
Burns claims he’s being paid a salary on par with what associate professors make, $60,500, while younger full professors are bagging between $78,000 to $90,000. He has requested a raise at least 12 times.
At a Tuesday press conference, Burn explained why he didn’t consider leaving Tuskegee for another job, describing his students as “the cream of the crop.”
“I’ve had what I consider to be exceptional students,” he said. “At Tuskegee, I’ve had classes with students who are go-getters and very smart. That’s what gives me enthusiasm to teach.”
In his lawsuit, Burns notes that he would have earned an additional $400,000 over his career had he been paid a full professor’s rate in 1980 at the time of his promotion.
“That’s an enormous amount of money to me,” he said. “It could have made a world of difference to me raising a family of four kids.”
Despite the lawsuit, Burns will return to the classroom this fall when classes begin, teaching nine two-hour physics labs, the report states.
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