Former WashU Professor Tae Seok Moon sues WashU on allegations of racial discrimination against one of his students. (Ella Giere | Photo Editor)

Former McKelvey professor of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering Tae Seok Moon filed a lawsuit against WashU on March 4, claiming that he was forced to resign because he spoke out against discrimination on campus. 

The lawsuit alleges that following a “racially hostile” incident involving Moon’s student, he began to speak out against racial discrimination on campus. 

In 2022, Moon was placed on administrative leave, which the lawsuit alleges was in retaliation for his speech, and was later escorted off campus by Washington University Police Department (WUPD). The lawsuit states that WUPD used “undue force” while removing him. Moon officially resigned in April 2024, after teaching at WashU for almost 12 years. 

Julie Flory, the vice chancellor for marketing and communications, wrote in an email comment to Student Life that while she could not comment on specific details, the University believes the lawsuit to be “unfounded.”

“We are confident that there is no merit to the claims against the University or the faculty members involved. It’s unfortunate that our former employee has decided to take this step, but we are prepared to defend the matter in court if necessary,” Flory wrote.

The lawsuit recounts a 2017 incident involving Tatenda Shopera, a former Black PhD student of Moon’s, who was being interviewed for a job at a private company over the phone in Moon’s lab. The suit claims that Shopera was approached by Lori Setton, chair of the biomedical engineering department, who allegedly told him to leave the lab and refused to believe he was a student.

“He begged, because this is one of the most important phone calls to him, because his career depends on their phone call … but Lori Setton didn’t listen to him, and then called the police,” Moon said.

Setton said that in order not to bias the outcome of the suit, she couldn’t comment on ongoing litigation, but added that she wished Moon well. 

“Professor Moon is a strong scientist and I hope he finds his way to continue productivity in research,” Setton said.

Moon claims he was pressured to keep quiet about the incident by Aaron Bobick, the dean of the McKelvey School of Engineering. 

“I clearly remember what [Bobick] said, the most disgusting remark I ever heard from anybody. He said, ‘Tae Seok, you know what to do. Make it quiet. Kick [Shopera] out,’” Moon said. “The university [is] supposed to protect its own students, but to cover up the discrimination incident, [it] threatened him and myself”

Dean Bobick wrote in an email that he could not comment on an active lawsuit, and added that he remained committed to supporting DEI efforts. 

Shopera received his PhD in Biochemical Engineering from WashU in 2018. He could not immediately be reached for comment. 

 Moon said he kept his concerns about the incident to himself for years out of concern for his career, but describes being extremely anxious and becoming “very sick,” because of his silence, leading to multiple emergency room visits. 

However, this changed in 2021 when Shopera, who began working at Pfizer after receiving his degree, was celebrated at WashU for helping to develop the COVID-19 vaccine.

“[That] sort of made me gain hope, and then somehow I miraculously recovered,” Moon said. 

The sudden publicity surrounding Shopera at WashU also motivated Moon to speak out about the 2017 incident and discrimination on campus. 

“Dr. Moon reached out on multiple occasions to HR, the department, the dean [of McKelvey], and other University representatives concerning discrimination issues,” the lawsuit states. 

Moon said that he believed that the University retaliated against him and his students. 

He alleged that the University prevented a student who failed a qualifying exam for the McKelvey DBBS PhD program from transferring into Moon’s PhD program. According to Moon, another student who had also failed the exam had done so in the past.

In 2022, WashU placed Moon on administrative leave, and the University sent WUPD to escort him off campus, during which Moon said they did not allow him to pack his things.

“They asked me to pick my phone and computer only and then just go home … and I asked, ‘I need [time] to pack everything, [pack] my family picture, etc.’ but they didn’t allow me to do so,” Moon said.

He also alleges that the police officers physically assaulted him. 

“When I asked more, one of the policemen hit me very hard … then I hit my head and my chest on the [floor] of my office,” Moon said. “I became almost unconscious and screaming because of the same pain [that] I used to have that typically led to my emergency room visits … when I woke up after several minutes, I had [been] handcuffed.” 

Flory said that Moon’s claims about the use of force by WUPD were “patently false.”  

Since his removal from campus by WUPD, Moon has published an article in Science Magazine about his experiences. He currently works for J. Craig Venter Institute, a non-profit research center. 

As of the publication of this article, there are no hearings scheduled in relation to the lawsuit.