Life University accused of racial discrimination in federal lawsuit

Life University is facing a potentially costly lawsuit for allegedly discriminating against three former Black employees.

In a complaint filed last month, they allege that during their tenures they were treated as “the help” and “as servants rather than professionals deserving equal dignity and treatment.” The private Marietta school and its leadership, according to the filing, singled out Black workers by surveilling them and forcing them to do work that was the responsibility of white employees.

Black employees, according to the complaint, were watched through security cameras by administrators who did not trust “their ability to perform their duties.” They were also “set up to fail” by white employees who did not provide access to tools Black maintenance workers needed to complete their tasks, according to the lawsuit.

Five Black employees — the entirety of the housing and student life department — were fired in a single day, according to the complaint, noting that no white employees were among those terminated.

The mass termination in August 2022 came months after an employee filed a formal complaint of race discrimination, according to the complaint. It argues the timeline of events “establishes a direct causal chain of retaliation against Plaintiffs.”

It is the fifth lawsuit filed against the school in federal court by New York attorney Megan S. Goddard and Atlanta attorney L’Erin Wiggins since 2023. All five complaints, representing a total of seven former employees, allege race discrimination and retaliation. Three of the complaints were settled by Life University last year for undisclosed amounts. The June complaint and one filed in November remain in litigation; both seek no less than $1 million in punitive damages for each plaintiff.

Plaintiffs in four of the five lawsuits filed a charge of discrimination with the federal Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, according to the complaints. In each instance, the EEOC issued a notice of right to sue.

In a statement, Life said the previous settlements did not include any admission of liability, fault or wrongdoing and that “any suggestion otherwise is false.” It said LU prides itself on having a long history of being an inclusive home for students, staff and faculty from diverse backgrounds.

“Life University is aware of filed lawsuits alleging racial discrimination and has learned through a media inquiry that an additional complaint has reportedly been filed, though the university has not yet been formally served. While we respect every individual’s right to pursue legal claims, allegations in a lawsuit are just that, allegations. There are those who may attempt to portray these allegations as evidence of a systemic issue, but they instead reflect a litigation strategy advanced by the same attorneys who filed past complaints,” LU said.

“Life University will respond through the appropriate legal process and vigorously defend itself against claims it believes are without merit.”

All but one of the filings name LU administrators Marc Schneider and Janna Bredeson as defendants. In the most recent lawsuit, Schneider, the then-vice president of student affairs, is accused of critiquing a Black supervisor for hiring all his “homegirls and homeboys.” Neither administrator responded to request for comment.

That same Black supervisor was the subject of a monthslong retaliation campaign for filing a racial discrimination complaint, according to the lawsuit, which accuses LU of “institutional and systematic” retaliation.

In its statement, LU said the school has been “enriched” by its diversity. About 30% of its students and roughly 10% of its full-time staff are Black, according to federal data.