SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Washington State University will pay $650,000 to settle a race discrimination lawsuit brought by two employees of Chinese descent.
The settlement in the federal case pays $325,000 each to Dr. Ying Li, and Lizhong Yang, who are husband and wife.
It also calls on the Pullman school to enact policies to prevent future cases of discrimination and retaliation.
The plaintiffs contended that while working in WSU’s Laboratory for Bioanalysis and Biotechnology, they were subjected to overt discrimination by the lab supervisor based on their race and national origin. They contended they were precluded from speaking Chinese at work, and were segregated into an all-Chinese seating arrangement and excluded from numerous meetings.
