Former UAB scientist awarded $4 million in racial harassment lawsuit

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama. — The University of Alabama at Birmingham has been ordered to pay nearly $4 million to an Iranian-born former cancer researcher who said a colleague harassed her for nine years because of her nationality.

Dr. Fariba Moeinpour, 62, sued the university in October 2021, alleging that the employee harassed her on a daily basis but that the school ignored her complaints, Inside Higher Ed reports. Moeinpour is a naturalized U.S. citizen who started working at the UAB lab in February 2011 until she was fired in February 2020 after a confrontation with her supervisor.

The coworker, identified in the lawsuit as Mary Jo Cagle, allegedly told her she had a “weird name” and that she should “go back to Iran.” Cagle is also accused of driving her car toward Moeinpour and her daughter in the UAB parking lot, pointing a gun at them and calling them a racial slur.

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Lawsuit: UAB lab supervisor assaulted scientist after she reported harassment

Moeinpour said she complained multiple times to human resources and her supervisor, Clinton Grubbs. Grubbs, who is not named in the lawsuit, allegedly told her he couldn’t do anything about Cagle because he “would lose his job or get killed or commit suicide,” according to AL.com. Grubbs told Moeinpour that Cagle was “in the mob” and that when he threatened to fire her, four men showed up at his house and forced him into his car.

The complaint alleges that when Moeinpour went to Grubbs’ office to complain that no action had been taken against Cagle, he called the police and threatened to ruin her reputation, stating that the conversations about Moeinpour’s complaints were “his word against hers.” When Moeinpour said she could prove what they had discussed, Grubbs allegedly “grabbed Ms. Moeinpour by the chin and knocked her down, cutting her face with his nails and causing her to bleed.” He then fell on top of her and held her down, and Moeinpour allegedly hit him in response.

When a UAB police officer arrived, Moeninpour admitted that she struck Grubbs “to try to get him to stop assaulting and groping her,” according to the complaint. The officer then escorted Moeninpour out of the building, and she subsequently passed out after the officer said she was being arrested. The complaint alleges that when Moeninpour woke up, she was strapped to a gurney in the emergency room with her ankles and wrists cuffed. She was later taken to jail and held overnight.

In a UAB police report, Moeinpour was described as an “excessive” aggressor, but Grubbs told police he did not wish to press charges and that he and Moeinpour “had been in a relationship for the past year.” Moeinpour said they had never been romantically involved. She was ultimately fired on February 13, 2020, for “violating the anti-fighting and non-attendance policy despite knowing that Ms. Moeinpour had stated that she had been assaulted by Grubbs and without interviewing her or asking her for evidence to support her claims.”

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UAB and colleague ordered to pay claimant

Witness testimony and audio recordings supporting Moeinpour’s claims were presented to the jury throughout the four-year trial, U.S. News reported. One witness, a mall security guard, described an encounter in which Cagle followed Moeinpour and her daughter through the mall and called them racial slurs. Moeinpour’s attorneys also provided the jury with documentation of her repeated attempts to report her harassment to human resources.

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The federal jury found that Cagle acted with “malice and reckless indifference” toward Moeinpour’s federally protected rights based on her national origin. The jury also found that the university’s decision to arrest Moeinpour constituted an “adverse employment action.” On Monday, the jury ordered UAB to pay Moeinpour $3.8 million, while Cagle was ordered to pay her $500,000 in compensatory damages and $325,000 in punitive damages.

“I was looking for a job, any job, day and night, but no one would hire me because my name was tarnished,” Muinpour told NBC News. “Now my good name has been restored.”

Alicia Rohan, a spokeswoman for UAB, said the university “does not tolerate any form of harassment, retaliation or discrimination.” She also said the university disagrees with the ruling and is “considering next steps.”