A pair of lawsuits against Emporia State University for religious discrimination in 2022 is moving forward, with a trial scheduled for March 2025.
Dr. Dusti Howell, his wife Deanne, and his children are all members of a non-denominational church that believes they should also celebrate what in other contexts would be considered Jewish holidays.
Howell, who had been a professor in Instructional Design and Technology at ESU for over two decades — and tenured for 12 years — returned from celebrating the “Feast of Tabernacles” in 2020 to a “conference” with the now-former Dean of the Teacher’s College Joan Brewer and now-retired interim IDT department chair Jim Persinger.
“I came back from a one-week church conference, which I’ve gone to since I was six years old and for 23 years at Emporia State — Feast of Tabernacles,” Dusti Howell said. “They said ‘you can’t do that anymore, not without getting an 8-week, preapproved notice from HR, and the dean and your chair.”
“I asked if I could go if I go to a tech conference,” he said. “‘Oh, yeah, you don’t even need to tell us, just go.’ But if you’re gone for a church conference, gone for one day for church. ‘Yeah, you need eight weeks pre-approval. We’ll let you know whether you can go or not.'”
The reason for this? According to Howell, he’d missed two classes — a Tuesday and Thursday — where students were to learn to use green screen technology. However, Howell had already planned to have his graduate teaching assistant cover those days — something common at any university.
“She was probably the best graduate teaching assistant I’ve had there in 23 years,” Howell said, noting that the TA was a former head of department at a university in India and was attending ESU while her daughter was in the nursing program.
“She was fantastic as a graduate teaching assistant, but I was chastised for allowing a graduate teaching assistant to teach in my class,” Howell said. “Wow, really you can’t use them to teach at all?”
This was the beginning of what is alleged to be a years-long effort to force Howell out — including multiple false claims against him —- according to the lawsuit.
“On November 4, 2020, Dean Brewer sent Dusti a letter of discipline claiming that Dusti had not reported for teaching for ‘weeks’ (when in fact Dusti’s religious absence was a week),” the lawsuit reads. “Brewer claimed Dusti had been absent a week (for the day of Atonement) when in fact it was only one day. Brewer claimed Dusti had sought two weeks of absence (for the Feast of Tabernacles) when in fact it was only one week. Brewer claimed that Dusti had not responded to school emails for upwards of a week (when in fact it was only two days). Brewer contended that meant Dusti was on a leave of absence when he was not. Brewer contended that Dusti had not followed the proper ‘process’ but never identified where in any published policy of Emporia State making such requirements.”
Indeed, Emporia State not only did not have a written policy accommodating religious observances but — according to filings — had a history of discriminating against students who observe the Jewish holidays.
“In 2016, Emporia State University (ESU) considered developing a written policy regarding absences for religious observances (FSB 16004). Its purpose was described as being ‘designed to create a policy on absences for religious observances.’ But the ESU faculty Senate failed to enact such a policy,” the filing reads, and notes that ESU “developed a custom in refusing to accommodate students’ request for religious accommodations.”
The lawsuit notes a September 23, 2010 article in the ESU student newspaper, The Bulletin, by ESU student Ellen Wiess, Opinion: Where are all the Jews in Emporia.
“As a Jew, it just feels lonely.” “The only thing that really bothers me about the lack of Jewish community is that Emporians in power schedule things on important Jewish holidays. It’s like they all get in a room together and say, “What test/event can we schedule on this one important holiday to prevent Jews from being with their families on this specific day?” “…but perhaps one of those powerful schedule-makers will read this and look at their [expletive deleted] calendars next time before they decide that a couple Jews aren’t worth changing a date.”
Other efforts included allegedly refusing to accommodate Howell’s children’s religious observances starting in 2015.
Moreover, according to the lawsuit, this coincided with a “shortage of funding” in which “ESU set out on a plan to eliminate graduate faculty.”
Howell’s attorney delayed Emporia State lawsuit until Groff decision came down
Howell’s attorney, Linus Baker, asked for a stay on the lawsuit while the Groff v. Dejoy religious discrimination lawsuit was pending before the United States Supreme Court.
In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that employers had the duty to prove a religious accommodation would prove an “undue hardship” on the business before it could be denied rather than forcing the employee to prove it would not.
Baker said in a phone interview that this was clearly not the case here, as Emporia State had provided Howell the accommodation for years — until Brewer became dean.
Baker said Howell was refused accommodation, disciplined on a series of trumped-up issues or technicalities, not included on email chains, and then disciplined for not knowing about meetings or departmental issues and threatened with termination.
“It was a constructive discharge,” Baker said, referring to a process in which an employer creates a work environment so hostile an employee is forced to resign. “I mean, they just made his life miserable because of his religious practice, which, for the prior administration, had never been an issue.”
Baker also noted that Howell’s need to work around his religious observances was hardly new.
“That’s something he has practiced habitually since he was there,” Baker said. “When he hired on, it was understood, right? So, I mean, it’s not like he had some epiphany during his employment where he changed the rules of the game. This has been Dusti from day one. This has been who he is and still is.”
Eventually, Howell resigned after being demoted to teach only freshman classes — and after having taught only graduate students for years — believing he was about to be terminated.
“What happened in the last two weeks [before his resignation] was just so crazy before I signed a contract,” he said. “I mean, they delayed the contract before the start of the school year, and it was three days before I’m supposed to be teaching, and we finally find out that they have moved all my classes.”
Howell said as he was eligible for early retirement, he decided his best move was to simply take it.
Baker said Howell is asking for unspecified back and future pay, and punitive damages, as well as attorney’s fees.
The Sentinel reached out to ESU spokeswoman Gwen Larson for comment, who replied that “Emporia State University does not comment on pending litigation.”
