Seal of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit on Wednesday, Aug. 12, against WashU alleging it fired a former Siteman Cancer Center (SCC) senior employee for filing a complaint about racial discrimination.

The lawsuit states that Amega Thaier, who worked as a senior program manager at the SCC, was separated from her colleagues during a mandatory online diversity, equity, and inclusion training session in January 2025 led by the University’s Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI). 

When the training was first announced, employees were asked to identify as white or Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) so they could participate in separate “shared racial identity spaces” activities. 

Thaier, the only person of color on her research administration team, contacted the ODEI and came to the understanding that there would be no activities separated by race, according to the suit.

Yet, the suit alleges that when the training took place, Thaier was nonetheless put alone on an empty Zoom call for several minutes. She described this as “uncomfortable” and “dehumanizing” in the complaint.

Thaier initially filed an internal complaint about the training to WashU’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in January 2025 and a complaint through the EEOC in July 2025. 

The suit alleges that after her second complaint, her work responsibilities were gradually transferred to her colleagues and her position was terminated in November 2025 by her employers, Executive Director of Research and Business Administration of SCC Nicholas Fisher, and Director of Research Operations Courtney Beers.

The suit alleges that the University violated both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991.

In an email to Student Life, Associate Vice Chancellor for Communications Kedra Tolson stated that “the university is aware of the complaint and does not comment on pending litigation.” Andrea Baran, regional attorney for the St. Louis district office of the EEOC, wrote in an email to Student Life that she was unable to comment on ongoing lawsuits. Fisher and Beers did not respond to Student Life’s request for comment.