Too `sexy' for Ivy League: Librarian sues Harvard for race, gender bias
A black Harvard librarian who claims her boss said she was too ``sexy'' to get promoted has hit the university with a race and gender discrimination suit.
Desiree Goodwin, a Cornell grad with two master's degrees, says she's been repeatedly passed over for ``less qualified, less experienced'' white men and women during her nine years at Harvard.
``She's a very accomplished, fine lady,'' said her attorney Richard D. Clarey yesterday. ``The jury's going to love her.''
Goodwin, 39, of Arlington said in court documents that her female supervisor told her in December 2001 that her ``sexy outfits,'' ``tight clothing'' and ``low cut blouses,'' coupled with an alleged bad reputation, were holding her back.
Library honchos had ``heard things through the grapevine'' about her, the supervisor allegedly said.
Goodwin's suit says she wears the same styles as young white female librarians.
Lawyers for Harvard this week had the case moved out of state court and into federal court in Boston before U.S. District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro.
Goodwin complained to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last year but the case was dismissed June 14. Her attorney said the commission dumped her case without contacting her or holding a single hearing but had talks with Harvard lawyers.
EEOC officials could not be reached for comment. Harvard attorney John P. Coakley deferred comment to university public relations. A spokesman said the university would not comment on pending litigation.
Goodwin, who has advanced degrees in English and library sciences, has applied for 13 positions in the sprawling library system and has been interviewed twice in her Harvard career. She claims her supervisor said her ambition had made her ``a joke'' among colleagues and they saw her as a ``pretty girl.''
The supervisor allegedly relayed a conversation with a higher-up at Widener Library who said she would never promote Goodwin even though they had not met, the suit claims.
The supervisor ``stated further that Plaintiff should have no problem getting a job elsewhere because the first thing employers look for is a qualified black person,'' the suit states.
The suit accuses Harvard of giving lip service to diversity. Goodwin claims less than 10 librarians out of 1,000 in Harvard's library system are black. That number could not be confirmed yesterday.
A black Harvard librarian who claims her boss said she was too ``sexy'' to get promoted has hit the university with a race and gender discrimination suit.
Desiree Goodwin, a Cornell grad with two master's degrees, says she's been repeatedly passed over for ``less qualified, less experienced'' white men and women during her nine years at Harvard.
``She's a very accomplished, fine lady,'' said her attorney Richard D. Clarey yesterday. ``The jury's going to love her.''
Goodwin, 39, of Arlington said in court documents that her female supervisor told her in December 2001 that her ``sexy outfits,'' ``tight clothing'' and ``low cut blouses,'' coupled with an alleged bad reputation, were holding her back.
Library honchos had ``heard things through the grapevine'' about her, the supervisor allegedly said.
Goodwin's suit says she wears the same styles as young white female librarians.
Lawyers for Harvard this week had the case moved out of state court and into federal court in Boston before U.S. District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro.
Goodwin complained to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last year but the case was dismissed June 14. Her attorney said the commission dumped her case without contacting her or holding a single hearing but had talks with Harvard lawyers.
EEOC officials could not be reached for comment. Harvard attorney John P. Coakley deferred comment to university public relations. A spokesman said the university would not comment on pending litigation.
Goodwin, who has advanced degrees in English and library sciences, has applied for 13 positions in the sprawling library system and has been interviewed twice in her Harvard career. She claims her supervisor said her ambition had made her ``a joke'' among colleagues and they saw her as a ``pretty girl.''
The supervisor allegedly relayed a conversation with a higher-up at Widener Library who said she would never promote Goodwin even though they had not met, the suit claims.
The supervisor ``stated further that Plaintiff should have no problem getting a job elsewhere because the first thing employers look for is a qualified black person,'' the suit states.
The suit accuses Harvard of giving lip service to diversity. Goodwin claims less than 10 librarians out of 1,000 in Harvard's library system are black. That number could not be confirmed yesterday.
