Charity R. Welsh, the former assistant dean in the College of Graduate Studies and Adult Learning at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, has filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming racial, gender, and age discrimination relating to her leaving her post.
In November 2019, the complaint states, Dr. Welch was “constructively discharged,” a term in Pennsylvania law to describe when a reasonable employee resigns as a result of the employer creating a hostile work environment.
The suit alleges severe harassment from her superiors, including leaving her out of important meetings, denying opportunities for advancement, being passed over for promotion, and interfering with an attempt to hire a Black student to assist her. Dr. Welsh alleges that her superior publicly berated her in front of a large group of staff members, many of whom were her subordinates.
Tha lawsuit is seeking “damages for past and future monetary losses as a result of the university’s unlawful discrimination.”
Dr. Welsh holds a master’s degree in education from Coppin State University in Baltimore and a Ph.D. in education from the University of Virginia. Prior to joining the staff at Millersville University in 2016, she was director of graduate education programs at the Van Loan School of Professional Studies at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts.
