Harvard worker claims discrimination
Library aide alleges race, gender bias
Wearing low-cut blouses and tight clothes made Desiree Goodwin too "sexy" to gain a promotion as a librarian at Harvard, the 38-year-old black reference assistant charges in a race- and gender-discrimination lawsuit she filed recently against the university in Superior Court.
A graduate of Cornell University with two master's degrees and 16 years of experience in the field, nine of them in Harvard libraries, Goodwin claims that her supervisors promoted "several less qualified, less experienced" white men and women over her.
"I think it's really unfair to place more emphasis on the clothes a woman wears than on her intellectual contributions to the workplace," Goodwin said in an interview. She now helps to bind books and to update a website at the Frances Loeb Library in Harvard's Graduate School of Design.
Goodwin says she wears clothing similar to the attire of many students and staff on campus.
"I would like to overcome the perception that being attractive and being intelligent and capable are mutually exclusive," she said.
Officials at Harvard have denied the allegations, which were dismissed for lack of probable cause when Goodwin brought complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.
"There was not sufficient evidence to show there was discrimination," said Elizabeth Forman, an MCAD spokeswoman.
"The case is without merit, gender and race were not factors, and the fact that the independent agencies established to investigate these types of charges dismissed the case indicates how this case will ultimately be resolved," Joe Wrinn, a Harvard spokesman, said in a statement released yesterday. But Harvard officials would not otherwise comment.
Goodwin's lawyer, Richard Clarey, called the dismissal of her complaints unfair and said the decisions were based on procedural issues and interference by Harvard officials.
"The dismissals were disingenuous; they didn't even allow her a hearing," Clarey said.
In the suit filed in Middlesex County last month, Goodwin contends that she has applied for 13 positions over the years at Harvard, but was granted only two interviews and never received an offer for a promotion. She now earns $38,000 a year, but believes her experience and master's degrees in Library Science and English make her eligible for jobs that pay as much as $68,000.
The suit claims that in December 2001 Goodwin's female supervisor told her she would "never be promoted at Harvard" and that she should "look for employment elsewhere." Around the same time, Goodwin claims, the supervisor denied her the opportunity to participate in committees and attend conferences that might have benefited her career.
The supervisor said she did not advance, according to the suit, because Goodwin "applied for too many positions" and because her colleagues saw her as a "pretty girl" who wore "sexy outfits."
Goodwin's suit also claims her supervisor told her she would be better off searching for a job elsewhere because "the first thing employers look for is a qualified black person."
David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com.
