A Penn State Professor of Pharmacology at Hershey Medical Center has filed a complaint against the university, President Graham Spanier and eight other administrators, claiming she was discriminated against for more than 20 years because she is a woman.

In the complaint, filed June 6 in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Joan Summy-Long claimed she was denied raises in salary, positions, bonuses and other benefits compared to similarly-situated males.

According to the complaint, Penn State's efforts to remedy her situation were "inadequate to eliminate the discrimination."

Summy-Long's complaint states she was punished in her efforts to report conduct that she believed was illegal discrimination. It also states that Summy-Long has exhausted all attempts to solve the alleged gender bias through the university, and therefore she is suing.

The complaint said the defendants worked together to "institute, engage in and perpetuate gender discrimination." It goes further to call the defendants' actions willful and reckless.

In an e-mail message, Katherine Allen, a university lawyer, wrote that Summy-Long's allegations are empty.

"The university disputes all of the claims that Dr. Summy-Long has asserted in this litigation," Allen wrote. "All of the university's actions and decisions that are at issue in this case were based on legitimate, non-discriminatory factors, and at no time did the university engage in retaliation of any kind against Dr. Summy-Long."

The complaint said that as a result of the alleged discrimination, Summy-Long has suffered injury and is suing for back pay and upgrade of salary that was denied to her.

Her lawyer, Ira Weinstock, would not comment on the amount she is suing for, saying only that is was "a big number."

Seven counts are included in the complaint against Penn State University, the Penn State College of Medicine, Penn State President Graham Spanier; Senior Vice President for Health Affairs, Dr. Harold Paz; former Senior Vice President for Health Affairs, Dr. Darrell Kirch; Vice Dean of Faculty and Administrative affairs, Kevin Grigsby; former Senior Vice President for Health Affairs, Dr. C. McCollister Evarts; former Chair of the Department on Pharmacology, Dr. Elliot Vesell; Associate Vice President for Finance and Business, Wayne Zolko; Chair of the Department of Pharmacology, Kent Vrana; and former Acting Chair of the Department of Pharmacology, Melvin Billingsley.

Summy-Long said there is very little that she can comment on at the moment, because she does not want to compromise her case.

Weinstock said they are now waiting for a university response, which could take weeks. He said depositions would probably begin shortly after.

University spokesman Tysen Kendig said the university does not discuss pending litigation.

The last known lawsuit filed by a faculty member on the grounds of discrimination was filed last August by Mitchell Aboulafia, former philosophy department head from July 2003 to March 2004.

Aboulafia filed a lawsuit against the university, the College of the Liberal Arts Dean Susan Welch and former Associate Dean Ron Filippelli for a breach of contract, violation of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and violation of First and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

According to a 23-page brief Aboulafia's attorney filed, current and former senior faculty members in the department discriminated against and severely harassed students and graduate teaching assistants on the basis of sex, ethnicity and religion.

When he tried to report the alleged discrimination, Aboulafia said he was removed as head of the department and demoted to faculty status, according to the court documents.