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Fired white professors allege age, gender, and race discrimination at Boston tech college
The professors accused Franklin Cummings Tech of ending their employment as part of a mission to transform the faculty into a “roster of younger Black men.”
Two white professors — both in their 60s — are suing Boston’s Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology for age, race, and gender discrimination, accusing the school of ending their employment in an effort to transform the “face” of the faculty into a “roster of younger Black men.”
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Tracey Arvin, 63, and Thomas DeCosta, 60, both taught in the college’s Electrical Technology Department, which Arvin led. She joined the school’s faculty in 2009; he followed in 2014.
Long based in the South End, Franklin Cummings Tech is in the process of building a new campus in Nubian Square. The small college boasts a student body that is 76% people of color.
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In a lawsuit filed Monday in Suffolk Superior Court, Arvin and DeCosta alleged that Franklin Cummings Tech ended their employment last year after they raised concerns about returning to in-person classes during the early 2022 COVID-19 surge.
Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that the college’s dean of academic affairs, Dr. Marvin J. Loiseau, “used the havoc and uncertainty wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to justify” terminating Arvin and DeCosta. Loiseau, who is named in the lawsuit, did not return a request for comment.
After being named dean of academic affairs in 2020, Loiseau allegedly “immediately began firing older, white faculty members and expressed a desire to hire more young Black faculty members,” according to the lawsuit.
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Arvin and DeCosta’s complaint notes that another former Franklin Cummings Tech professor, 71-year-old Tom Naderi, is similarly suing the school over his 2020 termination and has alleged age and disability discrimination.
That lawsuit, filed last year, is still ongoing.
The fallout
By the summer of 2021, Electrical Technology was among three Franklin Cummings Tech departments providing in-person instruction, according to the lawsuit.
Amid growing enrollment and a spike in COVID-19 cases statewide, however, both Arvin and DeCosta raised concerns about workplace safety as the spring 2022 semester approached. The college ultimately ended their employment in February 2022, accusing them both of “gross misconduct in failing to adhere to [Franklin Cummings Tech] policies,” according to the complaint.
“I think it’s fair to say that both of the clients at the time were extremely confused and upset,” said John Tocci, a lawyer for the two professors. “They’re upset for their students, certainly. They have committed so much to this school and to its mission through the years — in Arvin’s case, decades. They’re devastated at what’s happened to them personally, but also professionally.”
He told Boston.com that while DeCosta was able to find other employment in North Carolina, Arvin remains out of work.
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“I think certainly, achieving diversity in your staff is a laudable goal, but you don’t push accomplished, beloved, qualified professors out of their position just because they’re older — or just because they’re older and white — in order to achieve your goal to bring in younger Black professors into the system,” Tocci said.
Franklin Cummings Tech responds
Franklin Cummings Tech declined to comment on the specifics of the lawsuit, but told Boston.com in a statement that it believes the claim is unfounded.
“Our college is deeply committed to fostering an environment of respect, inclusivity, and equity for all members of our community,” the college stated. “Franklin Cummings Tech takes any reports of this nature seriously in accordance with our institutional values.”
Arvin and DeCosta are each seeking damages of $250,000 for emotional distress and $150,000 in lost wages and compensation, plus legal expenses.
In addition to his clients’ request for monetary compensation, Tocci said, “I certainly think that there is a desire for the community — the Ben Franklin Institute community — for this to be a wake-up call for them, to know what’s going on at their institution … and to be aware of the direction the leadership is taking this institution.”
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