Lam

Professor Maivan Clech Lam, a woman of Vietnamese descent, claims that the University of Hawaii’s Richardson School of Law (“the Law School”) discriminated against her on the basis of her race, sex and national origin both times she applied for the position of Director of the Law School’s Pacific Asian Legal Studies Program. Lam first applied for the directorship during the Law School’s 1987-1988 hiring search (the “first search”) and became a finalist in that search; however, the faculty cancelled the search without hiring anyone. She again applied during the Law School’s 1989-1990 search (the “second search”), but the Law School offered the position to another candidate. When that candidate declined to accept the position, the faculty again cancelled the search. Lam also claims that the Law School’s actions constituted unlawful retaliation.

Lam filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (“Title VII”) and other anti-discrimination statutes. 1 The district court granted partial summary judgment to defendants as to the first search, then, after a bench trial, granted final judgment to defendants as to the second search. Because we find a genuine issue of material fact regarding…