A white professor at a predominantly black university was fired "because of the colour of her skin", a court ruled.

"Rarely have we seen such manifest and open evidence of racial discrimination", a three-judge panel at the Missouri Court of Appeals said in their ruling, as they upheld a 2015 jury verdict in favour of Beverly Wilkins.

The $5m (£3.9m) damages awarded to her at the original trial will also remain in place.

The former professor at Harris-Stowe State University in the city of St Louis, Missouri, was hired as a professor in the College of Education in 2001.

She was fired by the Board of Regents in 2010, with the university blaming state budget cuts. But her lawsuit, launched two years later, said two black professors with less tenure kept their jobs.

It also alleged that she was repeatedly passed over for promotions repeatedly while Latisha Smith - a black colleague hired in 2007 - progressed to become dean of the same department within her first three years at the school.

Ms Smith had allegedly sent emails saying that she wanted the department to be "blacker" and the lower court issued an order for them to be produced only for it to emerge that they had been deleted.

However, one email that was produced in court was written by another black faculty member.

Ferguson Anniversary Protests Show all 11 1 / 11 Ferguson Anniversary Protests Ferguson Anniversary Protests Ferguson Anniversary Protests Police take a mug shot of a protester who was detained in Ferguson, Missouri, August 10, 2015. Protesters regrouped in Ferguson, Missouri, on Monday evening after a state of emergency was declared, aimed at preventing a repeat of violence the night before on the anniversary of the police shooting of unarmed black man Michael Brown. Ferguson Anniversary Protests Ferguson Anniversary Protests St Louis County police officers arrest an anti-police demonstrator in Ferguson, Missouri August 11, 2015 Ferguson Anniversary Protests Ferguson Anniversary Protests Protesters march in the rain, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2015, in Ferguson, Mo. Sunday marks one year since Michael Brown was shot and killed by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson. Ferguson Anniversary Protests Ferguson Anniversary Protests Demonstrators, marking the one-year anniversary of the shooting of Michael Brown, march along West Florrisant Street in a driving rain on August 9, 2015 in Ferguson, Missouri. There are reports that two people were shot when gun fire broke out during protests later in the evening. Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer on August 9, 2014. His death sparked months of sometimes violent protests in Ferguson and drew nationwide focus on police treatment of black offenders. Ferguson Anniversary Protests Ferguson Anniversary Protests A St. Louis County police officers respond in an MRAD vehicle after shots were fired during a protest march on August 9, 2015 on West Florissant Avenue in Ferguson, Missouri. Over 50 shots were reportedly exchanged on the day marking the one year anniversary of the death of an unarmed black teen, Michael Brown, who was shot and killed by a white police officer, throwing America's troubled race relations into harsh relief. Ferguson Anniversary Protests Ferguson Anniversary Protests Protesters yell as police form a line across West Florissant Ave., Sunday, Aug. 9, 2015, in Ferguson, Mo., before shots were fired near the protest. The one-year anniversary of Michael Brown's death in Ferguson began with a march in his honor and ended with a protest that was interrupted by gunfire. Ferguson Anniversary Protests Ferguson Anniversary Protests Protesters fall to the ground to take cover after shots were fired in a police-officer involved shooting in Ferguson, Missouri August 9, 2015. Two people were shot in the midst of a late-night confrontation between riot police and protesters, after a day of peaceful events commemorating the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a white officer one year ago. Ferguson Anniversary Protests Ferguson Anniversary Protests A white woman holds a black woman as they pray during a rain storm at the site of last year's riots on the one year anniversary of the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri August 9, 2015. Hundreds of people marched, prayed and observed a moment of silence in Ferguson, Missouri, on Sunday, a year to the day after a white police officer shot the unarmed black teenager to death, igniting months of protests and a national debate on race and justice. Ferguson Anniversary Protests Ferguson Anniversary Protests A woman reacts after shots were fired in a police-officer involved shooting in Ferguson, Missouri August 9, 2015. Two people were shot in the midst of a late-night confrontation between riot police and protesters, after a day of peaceful events commemorating the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a white officer one year ago. Ferguson Anniversary Protests Ferguson Anniversary Protests Police take cover as a barrage of gunfire erupts along West Florrisant Street during a demonstration to mark the 1-year anniversary of the shooting of Michael Brown on August 9, 2015 in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer on August 9, 2014. His death sparked months of sometimes violent protests in Ferguson and drew nationwide focus on police treatment of black offenders. Ferguson Anniversary Protests Ferguson Anniversary Protests Amarion Allen, 11-years-old stands in front of a police line shortly before shots were fired in a police-officer involved shooting in Ferguson, Missouri August 9, 2015. Two people were shot in the midst of a late-night confrontation between riot police and protesters, after a day of peaceful events commemorating the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a white officer one year ago.

It read: “I am floored to know that we have an interim leader that has voiced her prejudice so openly to me and others...this flagrant prejudice should not be tolerated or accepted.”

Ms Wilkins was replaced by a new professor and part-time instructor for a total of $23,000 more than what Ms Wilkins was getting paid, her lawyer said.

While her original victory was challenged by the university, but it unclear whether they will now appeal again at the Missouri Supreme Court.