Reverse bias cases bring legal caveats.(racial and sex discrimination cases)

Discrimination on the basis of sex or race is illegal and may result in expensive lawsuits, even though the goal of a more diverse campus workforce is laudable. Four recent cases bring caveats to administrators:

* At New Mexico Highlands University, new President Manny Aragon told the Associated Press that he wanted the school to reflect the state's diversity in both students and professors. After Lyn DeMartin was fired from her post as Highlands educational director in Santa Fe and replaced with a Hispanic man, she filed suit, complaining of racial and sexual discrimination. In February, on President Aragon's recommendation, Highland's board of regents denied tenure to four non-Hispanic faculty members.

DeMartin claims that Aragon, a former state senate majority leader, expressed a pro-Hispanic bias more than once in public and her story is part of a larger pattern. Athletic director John Lumley was fired and replaced with a Hispanic man who allegedly met none of the job requirements.

* At Boston College, an assistant hockey coach has filed a complaint alleging he was refused a job coaching BU's women's hockey team because he is a man. Head coach Brian Durocher sent Michael Cox a handwritten note explaining his decision: "Mike, I stuck to my initial plan of two young ladies." Cox's attorney said the case amounted to reverse discrimination. "This would be no different than a highly qualified woman applying ...