A federal judge in Idaho approved the settlement on Wednesday, ending more than four years of litigation. Plaintiff Shaakirrah Sanders, who is Black, sued the law school and former law dean Mark Adams in June 2019 alleging that she had been passed over for leadership roles and denied raises that were offered to white male colleagues. She later added former interim law dean Jerrold Long to the suit.
Sanders, who left Idaho Law in July, and is now the associate dean for antiracism and critical pedagogy at Penn State Dickinson School of Law, also claimed that Idaho law school administrators retaliated against her raising concerns about pay disparities and discrimination with the university’s human resources department and with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“I feel tired from the fight, but I feel proud of myself that I stood up,” Sanders told Reuters on Friday.