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Women 5 UCB 0
"Unfortunately, the 'Berkeley standard' appears to be a moving target, hit by
substantially more men than women when it comes to tenure."
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Congratulations to Maribeth Graybill, the fifth of five courageous UCB
women who brought charges of gender discrimination against the University
when they were denied tenure; all five have now won settlements.
Eleanor Swift of Law, Margaretta Lovell of Art History, and Jenny
Harrison of Mathematics were all given tenure after their credentials were
evaluated by outside committees. Marcy Wang, whose private architecture
practice had become well established, accepted a $1 million settlement (see
Spring 1996 Newsletter). Now Maribeth Graybill, formerly of UCB's Art
History Department and now a tenured professor at Swarthmore, has been
awarded a settlement of $113,000.
In 1991 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported on
Graybill's case: "Unfortunately, the 'Berkeley standard' appears to be a moving
target, hit by substantially more men than women when it comes to tenure."
The EEOC compared Graybill's tenure file to that of the man whom she was
hired to replace. The report concluded that "...when all is said and done one is
struck by how little was needed to justify the tenure of Professor [X], and
how much more was still not enough when it came to [Professor Graybill]
...she was subjected to a manifestly different standard than that applied to
her male predecessor." (Emphasis in original)
Graybill lacked funds to sue the University, but the EEOC turned the
case over to the Department of Justice which sued on her behalf. The modest
settlement only covers lost wages and out of pocket costs as the DoJ does
not sue for damages. As part of settling this suit, the University agreed that
the Art History Department would not discriminate in the future while firmly
denying that any discrimination had occurred in this case, an all too familiar
refrain. And as with Marcy Wang, they also claimed they were only settling to
avoid the cost of litigation.
Graybill's experience seeking tenure at UC was the usual depressing
back and forth of letters and memos, denials and rebuttals, but with one
interesting twist. Early in the process she pointed out the disparity between
her treatment and that of the man she replaced and, on the recomendation of
the University's Title IX officer, was given an additional year's employment
in which to reapply. During that year she produced more publications and the
Art History Department solicited more opinions from scholars in her field. As
a result the department changed its position and recommended her for tenure.
It was at the campus level review, by the budget committee, that she was
subsequently rejected, and that committee's objection to the additional time
and supporting data was judged to be retaliation by the EEOC.
The irony here is that the Art History Department was ordered to stop
discriminating when it had recognized its error and reversed its position on
Graybill's tenure while the University Administration, which perpetuated the
discrimination and was also judged guilty of retaliation, continues to deny
any wrongdoing. Given the small number of women in tenure track positions
at UC, it is amazing that five of them had the strength and resources to fight
back and wonderful that all have now won their cases. What more will it take
to get UC to face up to its bad record and begin to treat women fairly?
A disturbing footnote to this case is the role played by Carol Christ,
then Dean and Acting Provost and now Provost, who rubber stamped every
adverse decision and has taken a similar part in other gender discrimination
cases. She is now on the short list of candidates to replace Chanellor Tien.
Her appointment should not encourage women to hope for equity at UC.
-wage@wage.org-