After being turned down for each post, usually without an interview, Goodwin approached her superior at Loeb Library in December 2001. At that meeting, Goodwin’s supervisor allegedly told her that her skimpy clothing and zealous search for promotion had made her a “joke among her...colleagues” and that she should seek employment elsewhere. The superior told her that, as a black woman, she could get a job anywhere, according to Goodwin’s lawyer and the legal documents.
Both Goodwin and her supervisor were unavailable for comment yesterday.
In January 2002, Goodwin made her first attempt to file a complaint with the EEOC but was allegedly told by an investigator there to first seek help inside Harvard’s human resources and affirmative action offices. According to the court documents, Goodwin’s case was so “outrageous” that the affirmative action office consulted Harvard’s General Counsel’s office, who allegedly sent Goodwin’s superiors to diversity training.
In April 2002, the EEOC again declined to take up Goodwin’s case and this time allegedly told her to pursue a pending job at Hilles Library. According to Goodwin, she was not offered an interview at Hilles and did not get the job.
The EEOC eventually took up her case in October 2002, but her complaint was dismissed this June, “partly on the grounds that she did not file her complaint until October 2002.” Clarey said that the EEOC offered her poor advice and delayed filing the report. According to the court documents, Goodwin was not contacted in any way about the case.
According to Clarey, at the time of the EEOC decision, Goodwin was also unaware of an “inch-high” stack of paper that documented a communication between Harvard’s General Counsel’s Office and the EEOC. The court complaint states that the EEOC decision was based in part on these “ex parte” communications.
Goodwin, who also has a masters degree in English and has worked in University libraries for over 15 years, has worked at Harvard since 1994. At Loeb, where she continues to work, she is responsible for circulation and reference.
Goodwin also holds a job at the Arlington Public Library. According to Clarey, she is well-liked there and has never been accused of indecency.
Maryellen Loud, head of Arlington Public Library, declined to comment yesterday.
—Staff writer Rebecca D. O’Brien can be reached at robrien@fas.harvard.edu.