Jefferey Lynn Wilkins, a former employee of the University of Wyoming, is currently suing the university, claiming he was discriminated against for being a straight, white, Christain, male.
The federal lawsuit was filed on September 19 in U.S District Court, and Wilkins is asking for $875,000 as well as payment of attorney and court fees.
The defendants are the University of Wyoming; Ed Seidel, University of Wyoming President; Kim Chestnut, Interim President of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Parag Chitnis, Vice President of Research and Economic Development; and H. Victoria Bryant, Director of the Wyoming Technology Transfer and Research Products Center.
Wilkins began working for the University of Wyoming as an intern in 2015, while he was attending law school at the university. When he graduated in 2017, Wilkins continued to work for the university, switching roles to work as a part time intellectual property manager until being fired in 2021.
Wilkins alleges that he petitioned for a full-time position multiple times, to which the University of Wyoming allegedly “reduced his hours, denied him the opportunity to apply for various promotions, and eventually terminated him.”
Wilkins claims his supervisor expressed that to be promoted, Wilkins would need to “fit into a non-straight-white-male-Christian category,” then pushed him to claim disability due to a “degenerative eye condition,” so as to “check the box and become promotable within the internal culture of the University of Wyoming.”
According to the plaintiff, his supervisor did not support the University’s biases, but “unequivocally confirmed its existence.”
Wilkins also claims his termination came in part due to his opposition to Critical Race Theory which he believes to be “blatantly racist, sexist, and bigoted,” and the “antithesis of Dr. [Martin Luther] King’s teachings.”
Wilkins claims “The University required all trainees to agree with [Critical Race Theory] before it would consider [required] training complete,” that his open opposition became part of his personal record, and eventually lead to his termination.
According to Wilkins the University of Wyoming violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Titles VI, VII, IX); Wyoming Statute 27-9-105; and his First and Fourteenth Amendment Rights.
