EAST LANSING, Mich. — Christie Poitra, interim director of the Michigan State University Native American Institute, has resigned in the midst of a lawsuit she filed against the university.
"By resigning, I am freed from this deeply dysfunctional situation," Poitra wrote in an email to her supervisors.
Poitra joined the university in 2016. In February, she told Fox 47 that the harassment from her supervisor John Norder started almost immediately.
Poitra filed a lawsuit against the university claiming that they failed to address her harassment and discrimination complaints.
On April 27, she emailed the university her resignation letter, saying her last day will be May 24.
The email said in part, "From my perspective, this job has been profoundly life altering—a point underscored by the content of, and need for, this email. The only reason I survived as long as I did was my love for collaborative scholarship, and supporting my graduate students.”
Poitra's attorney, Liz Abdnour, sent a statement on her behalf, "I pray for my colleagues that remain at MSU."
We reached out to MSU but they declined to comment on the situation because of the pending litigation.
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