A rejected candidate for a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse dean position has now been offered the job after a court ruled Tuesday the university discriminated against him on the basis of his gender.

Administrative Law Judge John Brown found UW-La Crosse did discriminate when it did not appoint Martin Venneman to the Dean of the College of Science and Health position in May 2006.

The case started when former UW-La Crosse Provost Elizabeth Hitch chose Karen Palmer McLean over Venneman to fill the dean position. Venneman argued that he was not awarded the position because of his gender as well his age.

McLean is currently still serving as the Dean of the College of Science and Health at UW-La Crosse, while neither Hitch nor Venneman are employed at the university.

According to UW-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow, the ultimate decision to choose McLean over Venneman had nothing to do with his age or gender.

“The problem in this incident was that the provost did not clearly tell the committee that they needed to give her more than one finalist and the administration didn’t have any choice between the candidates,” Gow said. “Provost Hitch didn’t like that there was only one finalist selected and did not want to hire him as a result.”

After Brown handed down the ruling, the job was opened to Venneman, should he want it. Additionally, he could receive back pay and attorney fees. Venneman is currently the Dean of Science and Health Professions at Northeastern State University in Ohio.

Since the incident, UW-La Crosse has made sure to clarify to hiring committees its practices, according to Gow.

“I’ve always made it a point to meet with the committee and let them know they need to give us more than one finalist,” Gow said. “We are not going to overrule the committee, but we need to work together. Since this incident, we have hired a new provost and a new vice chancellor of administration and finance, and it has gone very smoothly.”

Despite this incident, the UW System as a whole is not widely known for discrimination and harassment cases, according to UW System spokesperson David Giroux.

“Generally, our campuses do not do this,” Giroux said. “We have a very good track record of demonstrating lots of diversity and have a whole set of discrimination-related policies enacted by the Board of Regents.”

At UW-Madison, if students or faculty feel that they have been discriminated against, the Office of Equity and Diversity within the Office of the Provost handles the complaints. Discrimination of employees and perspective employees, those taking part in educational programs or applicants for those programs and those taking part in university activities are all prohibited at UW-Madison.

UW-Madison’s Office of Equity and Diversity declined direct comment on the UW-La Crosse case Tuesday.

Despite the setbacks of the case, Gow is still confident in his university’s process of hiring administrators.

“In the time I’ve been here, in two years, this is the first complaint,” Gow said. “We are obviously disappointed in the judge’s findings, and we don’t think there was gender discrimination. Consequently, we are thinking very seriously about appealing the decision.”