The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued Washington University, accusing the St. Louis institution of firing a former senior program manager at its Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center after she complained about being racially separated from colleagues during a mandatory training session. The employee, identified in the lawsuit as Amega Thaier, was let go in November 2025, months after she raised concerns internally and then filed a formal charge with the federal agency.
According to the EEOC, Thaier told supervisors before the January 2025 training that she was uncomfortable with being separated from white colleagues based on race, but the university proceeded with the arrangement anyway. Court filings relayed by KSDK-TV indicate she was subjected to the racial split regardless, then filed both an internal complaint and an EEOC charge in July 2025. As FOX 2 reports, the training was provided through Washington University's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
The lawsuit alleges that once Thaier engaged in that protected activity, her supervisors began transferring her job responsibilities to other employees. By November 2025, her position had been eliminated entirely, and she was fired, according to the complaint. The EEOC contends this sequence amounts to unlawful retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Federal Suit Follows Failed Settlement Talks
The agency filed the case, titled EEOC v. The Washington University, as Case No. 4:26-cv-01289 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, on Tuesday. Under federal procedure, the EEOC is required to attempt pre-litigation conciliation with an employer before it can bring a formal enforcement lawsuit, meaning the agency's move to court signals that settlement talks with the university did not produce an agreement.
Catherine L. Eschbach, an EEOC official quoted in the case, said employees have the right to oppose and complain about race discrimination without fear of retribution. She added that the employer eliminated the employee's position after she filed her EEOC charge. David S. Davis, another agency official cited in the filing, said federal law protects workers who complain about race discrimination in the workplace. The EEOC is the federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate employment-discrimination violations nationwide.
Washington University had not returned a request for comment on the lawsuit as of FOX 2's initial publication, according to the outlet's reporting by Joey Schneider.
Second Discrimination Case to Hit WashU This Summer
The retaliation lawsuit lands just two months after a St. Louis jury awarded $732,000 in damages to a former Washington University employee in an unrelated case, as previously reported by Hoodline. That case involved a 23-year staff member in medical billing who alleged age discrimination after being replaced while on approved medical leave, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Together, the two cases point to a recent pattern of employment discrimination litigation against one of the region's most prominent employers.
Washington University is the second-largest private employer in the St. Louis region, with 23,434 workers and an annual regional economic impact of $9.8 billion in fiscal year 2025, according to figures published by the university. Siteman Cancer Center, where the alleged retaliation took place, is jointly operated by Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital and is Missouri's only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, per BJC HealthCare.
What Damages Could Look Like
Under Title VII, combined compensatory and punitive damages against private employers with more than 500 employees are federally capped at $300,000, according to the Nisar Law Group. That statutory cap does not limit separate awards for lost back pay, front pay, or attorney fees, meaning the university's total exposure could extend well beyond that ceiling if the case proceeds to trial or settlement.
Retaliation claims are the single most common basis for workplace discrimination filings nationally, accounting for 42,301 charges, or 47.8% of all EEOC filings, in fiscal year 2024. In fiscal year 2025, the agency secured a record $660 million for discrimination victims nationwide, including $528 million recovered through pre-litigation enforcement across more than 91,500 total charges, according to data reported by HRMorning. It remains unknown how Washington University will formally respond once its attorneys file an answer in the case.
