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Winthrop University – a government-subsidized institution of higher learning based in Rock Hill, South Carolina – was hit with a federal equal employment opportunity complaint this week by its former general counsel, Todd Hagins.
The complaint accused the school of firing him for refusing to retaliate against an employee who complained about its “blatant racism.”
From March 2023 through the fall of last year, Hagins served as both general counsel and secretary to Winthrop’s board of trustees. He has previously served as a federal prosecutor and general counsel for the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
According to a news release from Hagins’ law firm, his complaint alleging a “charge of discrimination” was filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) last Friday (May 1, 2025). A copy of the complaint was not immediately available, but Hagins’ firm noted it was related to “his termination on September 9, 2024.”
The news release alleged Hagins was terminated “in retaliation for opposing discriminatory and retaliatory actions by university leadership as well as his notifications to University leadership of a number of illegal activities occurring at the school.”
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It further stated he wished to join an “ongoing EEOC investigation” initiated by Amy Bailey, a current employee at Winthrop.
Bailey’s complaint – a copy of which was exclusively obtained by FITSNews earlier this year – alleged that her superior, Tammie Phillips, “used a racial slur twice in the span of a brief, casual conversation” in June of 2023. Phillips allegedly used the same slur – the N-word – again in April 2024 in front of her and Hagins.
“Even though I am white, this made me very uncomfortable,” Bailey wrote. “I had never been around someone who used this type of language before, and I was very taken aback by it.”
Phillips is the current executive director of the office of Winthrop president Edward A. Serna – and serves as secretary of the school’s board of trustees.
“I have heard and witnessed multiple racist comments since I have been working for Winthrop University,” Bailey added in her complaint. “My former supervisor, Ms. Phillips, and others, have used racial slurs in front of me.”
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According to Bailey’s complaint – which was submitted on November 7, 2024 – she experienced “significant retaliation” as a result of her complaints against Phillips. This allegedly resulted in the creation of “a hostile work environment.”
As for Hagins’ complaint, the news release accompanying its filing alleged he was terminated over his objection to “a planned retaliation against Bailey.”
This alleged retaliation was “directed by Phillips” along with school human resources vice president Lisa Cowart and president Serna, according to Hagins’ news release.
“This is not about whether something like DEI should exist in 2025, but whether Winthrop protects blatant racism, and why,” Hagins said in a statement, adding that his firm is “committed to pursuing justice and accountability in this matter while adhering to the highest ethical standards.”
EEOC’s office in Greenville, S.C. is handling Hagins’ complaint, according to the agency.
Winthrop scheduled an emergency meeting of its board of trustees for 6:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday (May 6, 2025) – presumably to address the compliant. The only item on the agenda for this meeting? An unspecified “executive session.”
Messages to Winthrop did not immediately yield a response, but as we often note here at FITSNews our media outlet has an open microphone policy and, as such, we stand ready to incorporate all perspectives related to the issues we cover.
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UPDATE |
Winthrop’s vice president for communications and marketing, Ellen Wilder-Byrd, provided the following statement in response to our inquiries about the allegations leveled in the two EEOC complaints:
“Winthrop University takes claims of racism and retaliation seriously. At present, we have received one EEOC charge and are responding appropriately. The University denies all allegations of racism and retaliation. The described incidents were fully investigated and addressed appropriately as required by law. As this is an ongoing legal matter, we cannot comment further at this time.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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5 comments
Winthrop should be ashamed. How in this day and age they can retaliate and get away with it is beyond belief. I hope the board cleans house of these horrible people in leadership and those who stood for what’s right should be the ones leading in the future.
This is fake news, when you drive into Rock Hill there are signs proclaiming “no room for racism.” This couldn’t have possibly happened since there is no room for it.
LMAO
He said she said, this was an employee that was disgruntled due to poor performance and pulled the race card. Just wrong
This literally has nothing to do with that because that employee is white… you just made an erroneous assumption.