Former Liberty University employee files discrimination suit

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WDBJ) - A former employee of Liberty University has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the university.

LeeQuan McLaurin was an Associate Director of Student Engagement and Director of Diversity Retention from 2018 to 2020.

According to the lawsuit, McLaurin says he was not paid the same as other employees in similar roles. He also says he was scolded by a superior for not disclosing his religious beliefs and for not supporting a religious condemnation of homosexuality. McLaurin, who describes himself as a Black gay Christian, also says he was discriminated against based on race.

“It had become abundantly clear and obvious that he was targeting me,” recollects McLaurin about his past supervisor, whom he claims once yelled at him during a meeting for not sharing his interpretation of Christianity that condemned homosexuality.

“He kept demanding to know my political stances, my political views, I told him they weren’t relevant,” says McLaurin.

“If parents are sending their student somewhere, they should know that they’re going to be safe, and unfortunately those students are not safe by any means on that campus. No matter how they try to portray it otherwise, they’re not,” adds McLaurin.

He says his reported concerns to human resources were ignored, and he resigned in June 2020.

WDBJ7 contacted the university for comment, and were told, “We will not be commenting on this lawsuit at the present time.”

A similar lawsuit has been filed by another former employee.

Read the full lawsuit here:

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