An Iranian cancer research scientist, Fariba Moeinpour, was awarded over $3.8 million by a federal jury on Tuesday after filing a discrimination lawsuit against the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Moeinpour, who worked at UAB's medical school from 2011 until her termination in 2020, claimed she endured nine years of racial harassment from a colleague, Mary Jo Cagle, due to her Iranian heritage.
The jury ruled in favor of Moeinpour, ordering UAB to pay $3 million in damages, while Cagle, a former data analyst at the university, was ordered to pay $825,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.
The harassment, detailed in Moeinpour's lawsuit, included racial slurs, threats and physical intimidation. Cagle allegedly told Moeinpour to "go back to Iran." She also drove her car at Moeinpour and her daughter, pointed a gun at her in a parking garage, and called her derogatory names like "sand n-----," according to the suit.
Moeinpour said she repeatedly reported the harassment to her supervisor, Clinton Grubbs, and UAB's human resources department, but no action was taken. Grubbs allegedly told Moeinpour that he feared Cagle, claiming she had mafia connections. The harassment culminated in a physical altercation between Moeinpour and Grubbs in 2020, during which Moeinpour was arrested and later fired by UAB for "fighting" and "absenteeism," despite her claims of self-defense.
In a statement to AL.com, UAB said it "does not tolerate harassment, retaliation, or discrimination of any kind" but expressed disagreement with the jury's verdict, noting it was considering further legal steps.
Moeinpour, who emigrated from Iran to the U.S. in 1989, expressed relief after the verdict.
"My good name has been restored," she told NBC News.
