Welcome to the sixth issue of the WAGE newsletter!
"It's a great white men's club and the guys just don't want to give up their power."
Dan Siegel, attorney, as quoted in a long article about WAGE and UC settlements that
appeared in the San Jose Mercury News of Sunday, July 7, 1996 and was reprinted in Knight-
Ritter papers all over the state.
Our faithful readers will remember that our last
editorial
reported on a meeting between WAGE
and the Office of the General Counsel of the University. During that meeting we brought up the serious
problem of retaliation experienced by those who complain of discrimination or harassment. When
challenged by General Counsel Holst to come up with examples, we mentioned the IRS audits
experienced by Rudy
Acuna
who
won
a discrimination suit against UCSB. Holst's
response, that there were lots of things that could trigger an audit, is true but it's not a denial of
responsibility.
In March, this discussion was reviewed at the WAGE Governing Council meeting. One of the
members found it especially interesting as she was then being audited. Two more members volunteered
that they had been audited during their cases. After the minutes went out, another GC member phoned
to say she was being audited. That was enough; it no longer seemed just coincidence.
I telephoned everyone I could think of who had ever had a case against UC, including non
academics. The result: of 30 people, 13 have had one or more audits during their cases. This isn't
scientific polling and these are people whose incomes may have changed drastically, but if you asked
your friends, would 43% of them have been audited?
A common first reaction to any given woman's case is "That doesn't prove discrimination. Maybe
she isn't a good scholar or teacher. Maybe it's just a statistical fluke that there are no women in that
department. Maybe the department was wrong not to promote her but departments make mistakes
that aren't discrimination." It's when we see patterns that we can be sure discrimination is at work.
This looks like a pattern.
We invite you to share your experiences of retaliation. Our most powerful weapon in the fight for
justice is the exposure of injustice. Those women who have taken their cases to the public know UC
hates to be seen as unfair. The public's respect for academia is precious to the institution. Our big stick is
to say to UC, "Act justly or we'll tell," and it's surprisingly effective.
March Meeting
WAGE held a public meeting in March. The morning reports of cases created the usual magic. In
the afternoon Sue
Ervin-Tripp
of UCB talked about efforts to achieve equality for the previous
generation of campus women. After a study in the 1960's showed women to be paid less than men, the
Office of Civil Rights pressured the University which responded by setting up a plan to increase
compliance, with some good results. There was also a court case involving both women staff and
academics that took ten years and cost the women their jobs.
Lastly Marcy Wong and her attorney, Marguerite Mead, gave us all the gory details leading up to
her $1 million settlement, ending the meeting on a positive note. They described
how, after Marcy had been denied tenure, the department solicited negative letters to support
their decision and attorney Lola harris of the Vice Chancellor's office asked Provost Carol Christ (now
Vice-Chancellor) to write a Title IX report that whitewashed the University's manipulation of the
tenure process. Even after the University settled with Wong they continue to attack her credentials.
Marcy also warned that the EEOC seemed too cozy with the University and recommended getting a
"right to sue" letter from them but not an investigation.
The WAGE Governing Council met the following day. The by-laws were changed so that one
third of the members will be elected each year, for three year terms. Patricia St. Lawrence agreed to
continue as chair, Leigh Segel as treasurer and Charity Hirsch as secretary. In addition to discussing
IRS audits, there were reports on the meeting with the Office of the General Counsel (Spring 1996,
page 3) and the Great American Write-In at UCI in March on which Vivian Hall, Phyllis Agran,
Marjorie Mosier, Therese Lynn and Ellen and Jennifer Lee all worked.
We expect to have an autumn meeting in Southern California. Hope to see you all there!
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