Former Liberty University employee Erika Woolfolk has filed a federal lawsuit alleging racial discrimination and retaliation. Woolfolk, who is Black, worked in the university’s Office of Equity and Compliance for Title IX until 2024. She claims she faced racially hostile treatment, was passed over for promotions in favor of less qualified white colleagues, assigned heavier workloads, and denied remote work privileges granted to others. She also alleges that co-workers made racist remarks and jokes.
Woolfolk says she was fired because she cooperated with federal investigations and reported misconduct by university officials. Her work involved investigating campus sexual violence cases, which she claims leadership improperly influenced. She reportedly shared these concerns with the U.S. Department of Education. In 2024, Liberty was fined $14 million by the federal government for failing to properly track and report such cases.
Liberty University denies wrongdoing, saying Woolfolk was dismissed for “legitimate business reasons” and emphasizes its commitment to equal opportunity employment. The school also defended a compliance official named in the suit.
Separately, another former employee has sued Liberty alleging gender discrimination, a case connected to the university’s religious stance that rejecting birth sex is considered sinful.