UW System Pays To Settle DEI Demotion Lawsuit
Settlement ends lawsuit brought by former UW-Eau Claire DEI administrator who claimed she was demoted because she's white.
Van Hise Hall on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus Friday, April 2, 2021, in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents is paying $265,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a woman who says she was demoted from a diversity, equity and inclusion leadership position because she is white.
The settlement caps off a three-year legal battle between former University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire employee Rochelle Hoffman and administrators with the campus and university system. Hoffman claims she faced racial hostility from student groups and faculty members in Eau Claire after she was appointed interim director of the university’s office of Multicultural Student Services.
Under the terms of agreement, both Hoffman and regents stipulate that the $265,000 payment “is not to be construed as an admission of liability” or wrongdoing and is intended only to “avoid litigation and buy their peace.”
In 2022, Hoffman filed complaints with the university and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development’s Equal Rights Division. She alleged students attending open houses said they didn’t want any “white identifying” individuals holding leadership positions in the newly created office, and some faculty raised concerns about the “optics” of a white woman replacing former DEI leaders who were Asian and Black.
After third-party investigators hired by the university system disagreed with Hoffman’s claims, she filed a federal discrimination lawsuit in 2023.
Hoffman also pleaded her case to state Senator Pat Testin, R-Stevens Point, according to an email obtained by WPR through an open records request related to DEI funding at state universities. She told Testin she was unhappy with what happened to her, but wrote, “I think it is important for good educators to bring light to some of the blatant actions of racial discrimination against white folks that are happening at UW Universities – and contributing to the current hostile environment around the UW System.”
Hoffman’s correspondence was forwarded to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, in May 2023. That September, Vos announced he would block pre-approved raises for around 34,000 university employees until administrators eliminate DEI programs and staff. He followed through and the UW Board of Regents eventually struck a deal with Vos that froze DEI staffing through 2026 in exchange for the money for pay raises and a new engineering building at UW-Madison.
In a statement regarding the settlement with regents, Hoffman said she’s worked for more than a decade as a teacher in K-12 and higher education “serving first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students” and that work will continue.
“Despite facing unlawful discrimination in that DEI role as a white woman, I remain steadfast in my belief that high-quality, accessible education — grounded in data and responsive to a changing workforce — is essential for all learners,” Hoffman said. “I believe deeply in leading and teaching with integrity and in choosing the harder right over the easier wrong. My commitment to student-centered learning and academic excellence remains as strong as ever.”
Hoffman left UW-Eau Claire last year. She’s now listed as an employee at Western Technical College.
Hoffman’s attorney Mike Fox, who provided a copy of the settlement to WPR, said it “sends a message” to people who promote DEI as well as those who oppose it.
“When you have this kind of reaction, as you had at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, that’s going overboard,” Fox said. “That’s defeating the purpose of helping people who have been underserved, etc.”
Spokespersons for UW-Eau Claire and the UW Board of Regents declined to comment.
UW-Eau Claire’s former Vice Chancellor of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Olga Diaz, has also filed a federal lawsuit related to the allegations first raised in 2022. Diaz’ complaint claims former Chancellor James Schmidt fired her for “her support of Hoffman’s right to make a discrimination complaint.”
Schmidt left UW-Eau Claire in March after being hired as President of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
UW Board of Regents settles racial discrimination lawsuit for $265,000 was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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