Too white-looking? CCU facing unique racial discrimination complaint by ex-employee

A former Coastal Carolina University employee is alleging she faced years of discrimination primarily based on her race, which the university “perceived as white.”

Erika Pomerantz, who worked in CCU’s counseling department beginning in 2017, is Asian, Latina and Jamaican but was told by university officials that she “presented as white,” according to her recently filed lawsuit.

The discrimination began in April 2019 when the department hired a less qualified, less experienced African American counselor and paid her a higher salary than Pomerantz, the suit claims.

The mental health practitioner opening was advertised as seeking someone “multicultural.”

Pomerantz complained that specifically seeking a multicultural employee was racial discrimination, though such a hire would appear to fall under affirmative action, a policy legal in South Carolina allowing organizations to seek employees of underrepresented groups.

Coastal Carolina’s equal employment opportunity policy notes the university has developed an affirmative action plan “to remove any disparate effects of past discrimination and to prohibit discrimination of any form.”

Jerry Rashid, a CCU spokesman, explained to The Sun News that the university, as a state agency, provides annual affirmative action information to the South Carolina Human Affairs Commission detailing, among other information, specific goals for hiring and retaining female and minority employees.

Its most recent plan, which breaks down goals by job category, includes goal placement rates of 49% female employees and 25% minority employees for professors, for example.

Bonnie Hunt, an attorney representing Pomerantz in the case, noted that the lawsuit isn’t really about that hiring, but more about the hostile work environment her client was subjected to after complaining about the hire.

University officials told Pomerantz she was “not multicultural enough” when asked why she was paid less than her new coworker, she alleges.

She submitted a complaint of racial discrimination to the university’s human resources department in August 2019, but officials never actually investigated, according to the suit.

Meanwhile, a coworker accused Pomerantz of making fun of their sexual orientation in October 2019. That complaint was fully investigated and determined to be unfounded, though Pomerantz continued to face accusations of bullying by CCU officials and coworkers, the suit states.

Coworkers then prejudiced the counseling department’s new director, Angel Onley-Livingston, against Pomerantz before the two got to meet by telling her about these previous issues, she alleged.

Numerous disputes followed between Pomerantz and Onley-Livingston, who is individually named as a defendant in the case, primarily regarding scheduling changes and following various office procedures.

Onley-Livingston consistently treated other employees better , Pomerantz alleged.

Tensions between the two reached a boiling point in August 2021, when Onley-Livingston sent an email to the human resource department, asking them to reconsider her placement in the department.

“I will not be bullied, manipulated or gaslighted on a continual basis this year by Erika Pomerantz,” Onley-Livingston wrote, according to the suit. “... I will not endure the psychological stress that I have endured supervising her this past year.”

Pomerantz was then “required to resign,” though the lawsuit doesn’t provide a specific date.

Onley-Livingston did not respond to a request for comment regarding the lawsuit, while a CCU spokesman declined to comment.

Hunt, Pomerantz’ attorney, described the case as unique among her 25 years practicing employment law.

“I’ve done discrimination cases with people that are Caucasian, African American, Asian, etc., but I’ve never before had a client be told they (look) too white,” she said.

The lawsuit also alleges retaliation and discrimination based on national origin, sex and religion. Pomerantz is seeking unspecified financial compensation for damages and lost wages and benefits.