Loyola Marymount University is seeking dismissal of a discrimination lawsuit filed by a Black former student who also worked as a resident assistant and alleges her supervisor made racially inappropriate comments, including ” you people,” “your people” and “folks like you.”
Plaintiff Jonnae Serrano also contends in her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that when she complained to the school administration she was told to get therapy. On Thursday, LMU attorneys filed court papers with Judge Virginia Keeny in advance of a Nov. 3 hearing asking that Serrano’s case be dismissed for a lack of triable issues.
“Loyola Marymount University timely investigated and resolved complaints brought by plaintiff Jonnae Serrano against her supervisor,” university lawyers state in their pleadings. “Now, long after she has completed her studies at LMU, plaintiff attempts to mutate her past complaints into broadly sweeping whistleblower and discrimination claims based on unsupported allegations that LMU failed to prevent and resolve such complaints.”
During Serrano’s deposition, when asked under oath to identify the factual basis for many of her claims, she was repeatedly unable to do so, according to the Loyola attorneys’ court papers.
According to her lawsuit, Serrano enrolled at LMU in 2021. She worked as a resident assistant at LMU’s Palm South Residences and alleges her supervisor made offensive statements to her that included, “you people,” “your people,” “folks like you,” “black folks” and “Black Friday” while also referring to himself as an “old white man.”
Serrano, 25, also contends that after a key became tangled in her hair, the supervisor stated that Black people’s curls were “meant to hold keys and secrets.” The boss that poked fun at the cleanliness of her room and told the plaintiff, “as a Black woman you may think you have to go above and beyond, but you don’t have to,” Serrano alleges.
Serrano further maintains that due to the alleged harassment, her grades, participation in campus life and mental health suffered. Serrano says she was hospitalized in October 2022 and placed on medical leave and alleges LMU should have taken steps to ensure that she could return to her job safely. She also says LMU administrators repeatedly advised her to seek therapy or other resources for managing interpersonal relationships.
But LMU attorneys contend that although Serrano contends her grades suffered as a result of the alleged harassment by her supervisor, the plaintiff was unable during her deposition testimony to name a specific class in which her grades fell because of the boss’ conduct. To the contrary, she testified she obtained As and Bs and had good grades for the rest of her LMU enrollment, according to the university lawyers’ court papers.
While Serrano alleges LMU allowed the supervisor to remain on campus after an internal investigation of the plaintiff’s allegations showed he had indeed violated university policy, in reality the boss was terminated, according to the LMU attorneys’ court papers.
Serrano’s suit alleges racial harassment and discrimination, retaliation and both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.