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A major mission of WAGE is the opening to public scrutiny of
UCUs procedures and policies for the hiring and promotion of women. A
series of events sparked by WAGE in the spring of 1994 culminated in
language incorporated into the state budget bill which requires UC to
report annually to the legislature on items crucial to any
achievement of equity for women at UC. This important achievement
began at UC Irvine in March with a forum and press conference at
which presentations were made by participants from the Berkeley,
Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, and San Francisco campuses regarding the
status of women at UC. Several of them described how UCUs inadequate
procedures and failure to remedy discriminatory wrongs had led them
to file gender discrimination lawsuits against the university.
On a more general level, Professor Martha West of UC DavisUs
School of Law summarized her research on the hiring, retention and
promotion of women at UC and throughout the nation . Testimony
concerning the pervasive gender bias in many aspects of academic life
at UC and elsewhere was also presented by a representative of AAUW
and by members of other womenUs groups.
State Senator Art Torres and State Assemblyperson Tom Umberg
attended and participated in the forum. After hearing the
plaintiffsU stories of damaged reputations, demotions, failure to
attain tenure, and UCUs refusal to acknowledge that any
discrimination existed, Torres exclaimed, "My God, my property taxes
are paying for this!" He was particularly outraged at the cost of
litigation both in human and financial terms to the individuals who
must resort to gender discrimination lawsuits. (For example, one
faculty woman was forced to sell her home because her bias lawsuit
against UC cost $250,000.) He was equally concerned at the cost to
the tax payers of the state who must shoulder the costs of defending
UCUs illegal practices.
The audience of approximately 100 included members of the
Irvine campus administration, a staff member from U.S. Senator
Barbara BoxerUs office, and the press. Articles covering the event
appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register, the
Irvine World News, and the Davis Enterprise.
Senator Torres followed up on this initial event by inviting
WAGE to a press conference in Sacramento, also in March. Prior to
that, his staff reprinted and bound the written testimony from the
Irvine conference and distributed it to each legislator and to the
press. In May, a Senate Budget Subcommittee hearing in Sacramento was
attended by Senators Torres, Nicholas Petris (Chair), and Theresa
Hughes. The WAGE presentations at the hearing generally covered the
topics presented at Irvine and resulted in additional coverage in the
northern California press. Representatives of several other
organizations also urged the Senators to reduce the amount of state
funds spent on the defense of gender discrimination/sexual harassment
lawsuits.
Debora Obley and Ellen Switkes of the Office of the
President, and Carol Tomlinson Keasey, ViceProvost of UC Davis, spoke
for UC. They provided information about the cost of litigation and
the status of women at UC. Senator Torres queried the UC
representatives about several of the financial and statistical
figures they presented. He asked why no one from the UC General
Counsel's Office was present to explain its legal expenditures a
major focus of the hearing.
Professors Martha West and Leigh Segel assisted Senator
Torres and the legislative analyst in drafting the language
summarized in the box; the requirement for UC to produce started
after passage of the budget bill and extends to the year 2000. This
will provide much needed consecutive data for analysis by WAGE.
In reports from the Office of the President (5/11/94 &
5/17/94), UC has already itemized its expenses for tenure and
discrimination cases over the last six years: $4.3 million! [$2.9
million for external counsel and $1.4 million in settlements]. And,
WAGE has already identified omissions on UCUs list; moreover, the
above amount does NOT include the confidential settlements for six of
the listed suits.
WAGE congratulates all who participated in making this
substantial achievement possible. In particular, Senator Torres and
his staff have our heartfelt gratitude. The lack of gender equity at
UC and the problems that women faculty face are issues that truly
affect the entire state. Our thanks to the state legislators for
their acts to help correct the long standing disparities between men
and women academics at UC. There is much more WAGE can do; join us in
the struggle!
-wage@wage.org-