Student sues over racial slur

Graduate student Barbara Franks, liberal arts, has filed a lawsuit against the University of Missouri (UM) and the UM Board of Curators, alleging discrimination on the basis of race, sex and retaliation.While employed in the Work Study Program in October 2006, Franks alleges her supervisor, Janet Carnett, administrative manager in the UMKC Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Office, made a racial slur by stating, “Don’t make the black bitch come out in me.”

The lawsuit, filed Sept. 6, alleges Franks was terminated for complaining about the racially hostile environment. It also alleges she lost another position as a work study because of a negative reference from the first department. Read more…