Former SRU provost sues university over April termination
Former Slippery Rock University provost Abbey Zink is claiming in a lawsuit that the university discriminated against her because she is a woman, retaliated against her and violated due process when she was terminated from her job in April.
In the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh in August, Zink, who also served as vice president of academic affairs and chief academic officer, is seeking all remedies and damages permitted under Title IX, including back pay, damages for lost prospective future employment, damages for prospective harm in her present position, compensatory damages for emotional pain and suffering, injunctive and declaratory relief, and payment of her litigation costs.
Zink’s removal from her position as provost was announced April 4, with an announcement that Michael Zieg would serve as acting provost. She began working for the university in 2019 when she was hired as an English professor.
In the suit, she argues that she was terminated after expressing her concerns about several degree programs, including the university’s creation of mechanical and civil engineering programs.
She claims SRU began charging engineering students an extra fee of $80 per credit for engineering course even though the university didn’t complete construction of fully functioning laboratories, which were promised to students. Those labs were needed for the programs to be accredited by the Accrediting Board for Engineering and Technology, and for the students to be successful in their careers, she said in the suit.
