A former high-ranking employee at Norwich University has filed a lawsuit against the school alleging age and sex discrimination when she sought to work again at the Northfield military institution.
June Heston brought the lawsuit earlier this month in Washington County Superior civil court in Montpelier.
“Ms. Heston applied for an open fundraising position at Norwich for which she was extremely qualified,” Heston’s attorney, Christina Nolan, wrote in the complaint. “During the interview process, an interviewer made statements indicating to Ms. Heston that she was ‘too old’ for the job.”
Nolan added that Norwich didn’t hire Heston, who had previously worked at the university, but instead gave the job to a “significantly” younger man who was “far less qualified” for the position.
“This is not the first time Norwich has engaged in discriminatory behavior,” Nolan wrote. “Norwich’s toxic ‘old boys club’ atmosphere has been well-documented in the media and in prior lawsuits.”
She said the suit sought to compel the university “to reckon with the underlying dynamics that result in discriminatory practices,” such as what Heston alleged. “Something has to change, or history will continue to repeat itself,” Nolan wrote.
The legal action follows a separate lawsuit against Norwich University brought earlier this year by another woman who had worked at the school, accusing Norwich leaders of sexual harassment, sex-based discrimination and creating a hostile environment.
That lawsuit alleged that the university, including its former president, Mark Anarumo, engaged in years of inappropriate and sexist behavior. The suit was settled last month following mediation, according to a filing.
Terms of the settlement were not included in the court filings or publicly disclosed by the parties.
Nolan, a former U.S. attorney for Vermont, also represented the plaintiff in the earlier, settled case. In an email Friday, Nolan declined comment on Heston’s lawsuit.
Marc Kolb, a spokesperson for the university, wrote in an email Friday, “We are disappointed by this news. Ms. Heston is a valued and respected member of our Norwich community, and we appreciate her many contributions.”
He added that the university was “very confident” the hiring process for the position, vice president for development and alumni relations, was conducted “rigorously and appropriately.”
Norwich, Kolb wrote, “in consultation with development industry professionals, conducted a national search and selected a highly skilled and qualified candidate,” who he said “brings new ideas and fresh perspectives to the role.”
Heston, a former president of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Vermont and a former candidate for state Senate, has also been a leading advocate for Vermont soldiers who were exposed to burn pits overseas. Her husband, Brig. Gen. Michael Heston, died in 2018 after having been exposed to toxic fumes generated by the pits.
According to the lawsuit, June Heston had graduated from Norwich University and then began working at the school, including in alumni relations and fundraising. She later spent around 16 years in leading positions at several Vermont nonprofits.
In 2015, Nolan wrote in the suit, Heston was “approached by Dave Whaley in Norwich’s development office to return to Norwich as Associate Vice President of Development.”
Whaley, Nolan wrote, told Heston that his plan was for her to be promoted to vice president of development and alumni relations after a few years on the job.
Heston, according to the lawsuit, accepted the position and “enjoyed great success,” leading a staff of 21 and managing a budget of over $1 million. Then, in January 2017, her husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, leading her to resign in June 2018 to care for him.
Earlier this year, Nolan wrote, “again at the urging of Dave Whaley,” Heston applied for an open position of vice president of development and alumni relations, “the same position she would have been promoted into if she had remained at Norwich instead of resigning to care for her ill husband.”
Heston, a finalist for the job, was interviewed by a panel of Norwich employees, the lawsuit stated. At the time of the interview, Nolan wrote, Heston was 62 years old.
One of the interviewers was David Casey, the person who was holding, on an interim basis, the position that Heston was seeking to fill.
According to the lawsuit, Casey, who was about the same age as Heston, “remarked that he was not interested in holding the job permanently because he is ‘frankly, too old’ for it.”
He then went on to say that the university needed someone in the position for seven to 10 years and asked Heston why she wanted the position, Nolan wrote.
“The implication of Mr. Casey’s comments was obvious to Ms. Heston – at 62, she was ‘too old’ for the job despite her overwhelming qualifications for it,” Nolan wrote. “That implication was obvious to another interviewer (a woman) who interrupted Mr. Casey before he could incriminate the University further, telling him to ‘stick to the script.’ ”
Casey, reached Friday, declined comment, adding that any comment regarding the lawsuit would need to come from the university’s communications department.
The lawsuit stated that Heston was “taken aback” by Casey’s comments and brought them up with Norwich President John Broadmeadow, a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant general.
“General Broadmeadow apologized for the comments,” Nolan wrote, “but upon information and belief held it against Ms. Heston that she voiced her concerns so forcefully.”
The lawsuit stated that the university later offered the job to a younger man, who lacked her experience in development at a higher education institution.
“Upon information and belief,” Nolan wrote, “Ms. Heston was not offered the job because of her age, her sex, and because she spoke up when she witnessed discrimination in her interview process.”
The lawsuit also stated that, had Heston been hired, “she likely would have been compensated at a salary of around $200,000 per year with a seven percent retirement match.”
Heston’s lawsuit seeks unspecified damages to be determined by a jury.