The university denies the claims.
The suit filed by Daisy Hurst Floyd also alleges a pattern of discrimination in hiring deans over the past 10 years and that university officials did not follow an announced procedure in the hiring of the law school's interim dean. The decision to name a white male came before the deadline for recommendations from law school faculty for the position, the suit claims.
The lawsuit names as defendants Texas Tech and its system, and includes in their official capacities former president David Schmidly, Chancellor David Smith, Regent Brian Newby, Provost John Burns, Vice Provost Elizabeth Hall and Provost William Marcy.
Tech interim President Donald Haragan denies all the allegations in the suit, university spokeswoman Cindy Rugeley said.
"Frankly, he's quite surprised," she said of Haragan. "He didn't know that the lawsuit was going to be filed until asked about it by a reporter with The Associated Press. He thought he and Dr. Floyd were working toward resolution of her concerns."
Mark Perlmutter, an Austin attorney representing Floyd, said the lawsuit was the only choice available.
"We remain open to resolving this matter in a way that's best for my client and the university," he said.
According to the suit, between 1991 and 2001, all of the permanent deans appointed, about 15, were white males.
In May 2002, Floyd filed a complaint with the Texas Commission on Human Rights and last month received a "right to sue" letter from the commission, the suit claims.
Less than a month after Frank Newton announced in early November 2001 that he was resigning as law school dean, he and Schmidly met to discuss his resignation, appointment of interim dean and possible candidates for a permanent dean and the forming of a search committee, the suit states.
After the meeting, Newton told Floyd that she "could forget about being interim dean" because of sexism, the suit states. Schmidly also told him "in the lewdest and crudest of terms" that he would not appoint a woman to be dean of the law school, the suit states.
Schmidly, now president of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla., was out of town and unavailable for comment Friday.
On November 20, 2001, Provost John Burns told law school faculty and staff that he would take nominations for interim dean for two weeks and that the selection would not be based on the number of nominations each candidate received but on his interviews with nominees, the suit states.
The next day Floyd sent Burns an e-mail saying she knew she had been nominated for interim dean by several colleagues and that she was not interested in becoming permanent dean, only the interim, the suit states.
On Dec. 4, 2001, Burns sent out a memo to the faculty and staff announcing that Professor James Eissinger would be interim dean, the suit states. In October 2002, however, Floyd learned that Burns actually recommended on Nov. 21, 2001, that Eissinger be named interim dean in a memo to Schmidly, writing that Eissinger was the "near unanimous" choice of law school faculty and staff, the suit states.
A call seeking comment from Burns was not immediately returned late Friday.
The suit also claims that university leaders have retaliated against Floyd and attempted to silence her claims of discrimination.
About 100 undergraduate and law students marched on the campus in November to protest what they claim is institutional discrimination at Tech. Also in November, Schmidly denied making the disparaging remark and that the school still had a way to go in making the campus diverse when he addressed about 150 people gathered at the law school.
The suit seeks monetary damages above $50,000, attorneys fees and other related costs.
