Lawsuit: Spartanburg Community College discriminated against employee

A former Spartanburg Community College employee has filed a federal lawsuit against the school, accusing it of gender discrimination and a retired administrator of sexual harassment, attempted sexual assault, and retaliation.

In the civil lawsuit seeking undisclosed damages, a woman alleges SCC created a hostile work environment and treated her differently after she reported Ron Jackson, the former vice president of student affairs and her supervisor, had solicited her for sex and a romantic relationship over a five-year period.

According to an amended complaint filed Nov. 17 in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, the woman said Jackson sexually harassed, attempted to sexually assault and several times angrily "lunged" at her during meetings. She also claims he ultimately retaliated by “abruptly” terminating her in September 2020.

The college declined to comment on the pending litigation but generally denied the allegations against Jackson and the college’s handling of the matter in a response filed on Dec. 1. An attorney for the college did not respond to Herald-Journal requests for comment. Jackson was not named as a defendant in the case.

A filing on May 14 set an Aug. 26 deadline for discovery of evidence in the lawsuit. Attorney Chance Sturup, who represents the woman, said depositions are underway as part of the discovery phase.

The Herald-Journal does not typically identify victims of alleged sexual harassment or assault.

The lawsuit addresses four gender discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The lawsuit accuses SCC of creating a hostile work environment, retaliating against the woman, and treating her differently because she was a woman. It also alleges “quid pro quo” behavior by Jackson towards her – offering favorable treatment in exchange for sexual or romantic acts.

“No woman or employee should ever have to endure what she went through,” Sturup said in a statement to the Herald-Journal. “These cases are all too common throughout our state and local community and must be stopped. We are committed to getting justice for her to the greatest extent possible under the law.”

Lawsuit: Incidents began in January 2015

Jackson led the student affairs office from 2007 until he retired in May 2022, according to a spokesperson for Spartanburg Community College.

The lawsuit outlines alleged incidents that began in January 2015 and continued until the woman was fired in September 2020. The accusations include Jackson soliciting the woman for a romantic relationship, sexual acts, and attempts to grope her.

The woman also accused Jackson of leaving gifts and cards at her home and trying to give her cash when he requested romantic flavors. According to the lawsuit, the woman repeatedly rejected his advances.

According to the lawsuit, some of the incidents occurred in the workplace, and Jackson used his authority as the woman's supervisor to create “vulnerable or isolated” situations where he would solicit her for romantic or sexual favors. When she threatened to go to the college’s human resources office, the woman said, Jackson told her, “They don’t want you here anyway.”

In response to a claim, the college denied that human resources officials told the woman they could not deal with the complaint unless she left and returned with Jackson when she attempted to report him in 2016.

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Allegations of inappropriate touching, intimidation, and retaliation

The lawsuit alleges several intense incidents took place in late 2019, some within several days.

The woman said that on Nov. 19, 2019, Jackson texted her saying he had been “dreaming about her.”

The next day, following a disagreement concerning the grant operations for the position she was involved in, Jackson told her he was “the alpha male here and in your house.”

Then, on Nov. 21, the lawsuit alleges Jackson demanded the woman come to his office for a meeting, during which he was visibly and audibly angry. The woman said that at one point, Jackson lunged at her and attempted to grab her by the chest or neck. The college acknowledged that a meeting occurred because of an “unprofessional” interaction between the woman and a different employee but denied a physical altercation.

The woman allegedly went to the hospital later in the day because of stress from the incident, exacerbated by an autoimmune disorder from which she suffers.

When Jackson learned she required medical attention, he emailed the woman saying he was going to report her to the college's human resources office for cursing at him, which the college confirmed in the lawsuit, although the woman denied cursing at Jackson.

The lawsuit goes on to detail how human resources officials advised the woman to bring a witness for any one-on-one meetings with Jackson. The college denied giving the advice. The college also denied that Jackson became angry several weeks later when the woman brought a witness to a meeting, pushed the witness out of his office, again lunged at the woman and told her she had committed insubordination. However, college officials acknowledged there was a meeting with a witness.

According to the lawsuit, the woman had a meeting the next day with Rick Teal, vice president of human resources at SCC, in which she informed him of Jackson’s harassing and retaliatory behavior and provided documentation of the unwanted communications. In their response, the college confirmed the meeting but said the woman did not allege Jackson sexually harassed her.

The woman had yet another meeting with a higher-level supervisor in August 2020, according to the lawsuit. When Jackson learned of it, she said he threatened to terminate her and arranged a meeting. The woman asked that a witness be present, which the college confirmed Jackson denied. The woman said she did not attend "out of fear for her personal safety." She was terminated on Sept. 1, 2020.

Teal died in August 2021 from cancer before he could be deposed, Sturup said.

The lawsuit claims the woman was terminated for continually reporting Jackson to human resources and upper management and insists the woman performed her job in a “competent, if not more than competent” manner. The college issued a termination letter to the woman stating she was terminated for “misconduct,” the lawsuit said. The college did not specify why the woman was terminated in its response.

EEOC complaint filed

Sturup noted that most cases involving discrimination or retaliation must first go through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency that investigates workplace discrimination violations before a lawsuit can be filed. He said his client followed the process, which can take several years, before originally filing the lawsuit in state court on Sept. 27. The case was moved to federal court two months later.

The lawsuit alleges the college provided statements to the South Carolina Department of Employment and Works claiming the woman was terminated for failing to show up to a meeting, but later provided statements to the EEOC that the woman was terminated for performance issues within the office that she oversaw.

Despite continued reporting of Jackson over the years, neither the college’s human resources office nor high-level management took action to curtail Jackson’s sexually inappropriate or retaliatory behavior towards the woman, the lawsuit claims. It states the college is liable for back pay, front pay, and damages related to emotional distress, humiliation, and mental anguish. It does not name a specific monetary amount.

Chalmers Rogland covers public safety for the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Greenville News and USA Today Network. Reach him via email at crogland@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Former employee files lawsuit accusing SCC of gender discrimination