Former Winthrop lawyer accuses university of racial discrimination, retaliation
The former lead attorney for Winthrop University is accusing top school officials of racial discrimination and other unlawful conduct. He wants federal investigators to intervene.
Todd Hagins said he lost his job as general counsel in September for “opposing discriminatory and retaliatory actions” at the Rock Hill university and notifying leadership “of a number of illegal activities occurring at the school.” His law firm filed a complaint on his behalf with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“This is not about whether something like DEI should exist in 2025, but whether Winthrop protects blatant racism, and why,” Hagins said in a news release Monday.
Hagins said the EEOC requests that attorneys do not release their complaints, so his firm declined to provide a copy to The Herald.
Hagins said he wants his case to join an ongoing EEOC investigation prompted by Amy Bailey, a current Winthrop employee. Bailey had publicly released her complaint which she filed in November.
Winthrop has only received one charge from the EEOC as of Thursday, according to Ellen Wilder-Byrd, associate vice president for communications and marketing. Winthrop has not received an EEOC complaint from Hagins.
“The university denies all allegations of racism and retaliation. The described incidents were fully investigated and addressed appropriately as required by law,” Wilder-Byrd said in a written statement. “As this is an ongoing legal matter, we cannot comment further at this time.”
Allegations against Winthrop
Bailey accused her former supervisor, Tammie Phillips, of using a racial slur multiple times during casual conversation. Phillips is executive director of the president’s office.
“Even though I am white, this made me very uncomfortable,” Bailey said in her complaint. “I had never been around someone who used this type of language before, and I was very taken aback by it.”
Hagins was present once when Phillips allegedly used the slur, after which Bailey sent an anonymous email to the board of trustees reporting the slur. Within a week, she said Phillips replaced her.
Bailey reported racially charged language and retaliation to human resources, according to her complaint.
Hagins said he was asked multiple times by university President Edward Serna to agree with ways that Phillips and Lisa Cowart, the head of Human Resources, could restructure Bailey’s job and significantly reduce her responsibilities. He expressed concern, then was terminated, he said.
The board of trustees later promoted Phillips to be their acting secretary.
Hagins said Winthrop terminated him because he objected to “planned retaliation against Bailey.”
Hagins worked at Winthrop for about a year and a half and founded the Hagins Clark Law Firm after he was fired. He is a former federal prosecutor and general counsel for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
