Roger Hou, a native of China, is a naturalized citizen of the U.S. He came
to the States to study in the early 1960s, became a citizen in 1965, and
received a Ph.D. from the University of Indiana at Bloomington the next
year.
Hou was hired by Slippery Rock State College as an Associate Professor
of Mathematics in 1969, and achieved tenure in the 1973–1974 school
year. From 1972 to 1976, Hou applied for promotion to full professor. All
six of his applications were denied. After his last unsuccessful application,
Hou filed a discrimination suit against the college.^22
If you recall, the first stage in a case like this is for the Plaintiff (Hou)
to establish prima facie. Hou did reach that standard by showing that: (1)
he is Asian, and thus a member of protected minority; (2) he was qualified
for promotion in the years in question; (3) he was not promoted; and (4)
Anglo faculty members had been promoted in the same period.
At that point, the burden of proof shifted to the college, who had to
prove that there were legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons not to
promote Hou. The college did this by presenting evidence that Hou was a
mediocre teacher, and further, that his mediocrity was due, at least in part,
to his heavy accent.
Higher educational institutions were meant to be included within the
scope of Title VII; nevertheless, the “trend in many courts has been to
exercise minimal scrutiny of college and university employment practices,
due, in large part, to the subjective factors on which many academic
employment decision are based” (Hou 1983). There is considerable
forbearance for the opinions put forth by school administration. In
addition, the courts have shown reluctance to reverse higher education
administrative decisions (ibid.).
This deference for academic decision worked to Hou’s detriment. The
judge pointed out that: “The issue of accent in a foreign-born person of
another race is a concededly delicate subject when it becomes part of peer
or student evaluations, since many people are prejudiced against those
with accents” (Hou v. Pennsylvania Department of Education and Slippery
Rock College 1983).
The court then went on to approve the loophole used by the institution:
We find that comments about Dr. Hou’s accent, when made, were
directed toward the legitimate issue of his teaching effectiveness.