Ajit Karn
New York: According to a media report, an associate professor of Indian-Origin at the Wellesley business school in Massachusetts has filed a lawsuit alleging racial and gender-based discrimination.
The Boston Globe reported on February 27 that Lakshmi Balachandra, an associate professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College, claimed she lost career opportunities, suffered economic losses, emotional distress, and damage to her reputation as a result of mistreatment and the failure of administrators to investigate her complaints.
Lakshmi Balachandra joined the Babson faculty in 2012, and in 2019 she was granted tenure.
In her lawsuit, she named Andrew Corbett, a professor and former chair of the college’s division of entrepreneurship, as the “primary direct perpetrators of the discriminatory work environment.” Lakshmi Balachandra alleged in a February 27 complaint filed in US District Court in Boston that Corbett, who oversaw teaching assignments, class scheduling, and annual reviews, only permitted her to teach required courses in entrepreneurship despite her requests to teach electives – even though she had previously taught such courses at MIT Sloan School of Management and Harvard Business School.
Lakshmi Balachandra’s complaint alleged that “Babson favours Caucasian and male faculty by reserving most awards and privileges for them.”
According to the complaint, she was denied numerous leadership positions and opportunities for more time to conduct research and write despite her research record, expressed interest, and service to the college.
Such privileges are routinely accorded to white male faculty in the division of entrepreneurship, according to the complaint.
The professor has also lodged a discrimination complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, according to Lakshmi Balachandra’s lawyer, Monica Shah.
Meanwhile, Babson College responded that it takes concerns and complaints seriously and has established protocols and resources in place to thoroughly investigate and resolve them.
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A spokesperson for Babson College was quoted as saying, “The college is home to a diverse global community in which equity and inclusion are valued and integrated into every aspect of campus and where discrimination of any kind is not tolerated.”
Lakshmi Balachandra, who is on fellowship leave at the National Science Foundation, is seeking unspecified damages, according to the report.
