Why community, labor should support Pat Washington

Pat Washington Photo: Maggie Allington

Community and labor support is needed now, more than ever, after a California Appeal Court ruled on April 17 against Pat Washington, who charges that she was unlawfully denied tenure and fired from San Diego State University (SDSU) in retaliation for protesting that she and students of color faced a racially hostile work environment there.

Displaying the tenacity and courage that her supporters find characteristic of her, Washington told Workers World on April 17 that she will continue to fight for reinstatement. “We couldn’t get justice from a system built on injustice for people of color,” she stated. “We need a stronger community outcry.”

Washington was denied tenure in the Women’s Studies Department at SDSU in 2002. Her bosses claimed that she did not meet the requirements for tenure—traditionally a strong form of job security. She was terminated from her university teaching position on May 21, 2003.

SDSU’s decision to deny tenure and fire Washington was stunning. She had been the only Black professor ever hired in the 33-year history of the Women’s Studies department at SDSU. She is also an out and proud lesbian woman.

Washington is an internationally known and widely acclaimed scholar. She has stressed that her teaching and publication records were comparable to or stronger than those of white faculty who have received tenure at SDSU. The comparison of SDSU’s stated requirements for tenure with Washington’s credentials are available on her website: www.patwashington.org.

Washington was popular with students. She received the “Teacher of the Year” award for three consecutive years. In fact, she was fired only weeks after she had gotten the award for the third time.

After her firing, Pat Washington took her case to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC has only ruled in favor of individuals taking on corporate institutions in a tiny fraction of cases—less than 5 percent.

Yet the EEOC ruled against SDSU and in favor of Washington. The findings, also posted on Washington’s website, stated that there was “reasonable cause” to believe that the university bosses had discriminated against Washington by denying her tenure and firing her “on the basis of her race/sex combined and in retaliation for previous complaints.”

The EEOC urged SDSU to avoid a costly legal battle and undo the harm done to Professor Washington by reinstating her faculty job. Rather than do the right thing, however, on Dec. 26, 2003, SDSU officials notified her that the academic corporation would go to court instead. The hundreds of thousands of dollars that SDSU is spending to defend its firing of Washington is coming from taxpayer monies. Washington has been forced to pay for her own defense.

Impressive circle of solidarity

Pat Washington’s struggle for reinstatement, back pay and tenure has won support from organizations prominent in battles against discrimination and oppression on and off campuses. These include the San Diego chapter of the NAACP, California Black Faculty and Staff Association, Chicano/a Studies Foundation, California Faculty Association, Lambda Letters Project, San Diego Chapter of the Peace & Freedom Party, San Diego Concilio for Higher Education, and Equality California (formerly California Alliance for Pride & Equality).

The membership assembly of the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA)—the organization representing the entire body of women’s studies departments across the U.S.—passed a recommendation in June 2003 calling on its president to send a letter to SDSU President Stephen Weber and California State University Chancellor Charles Reed expressing concerns about the process used to deny tenure to Washington and supporting her appeal. More information about the support Washington’s fight for reinstatement has received from NWSA caucuses and task forces, and also from prominent women activists, are documented on her web site.

Washington has also drawn support from the California state chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), American Association of University Women (AAUW), Sociologists for Women in Society, National Center for Lesbian Rights, WAGE—We Advocate Gender Equality, and the California Coalition for Women Prisoners.

‘An injury to all’

The critical need for strong labor support for Washington’s case was made evident by the decision of the California Superior Court that dismissed her suit against the California State University and Colleges Board of Trustees on April 8, 2005.

The court ruled that if Washington’s colleagues—her co-workers—did not like her, that a “personal grudge or resentment can constitute a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for an adverse employment decision.”

This is a dangerous legal precedent that threatens to become a loophole through which employers can escape Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII not only bars job discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin, it also prohibits bosses from retaliating against employees who protest workplace discrimination.

Every working and unemployed person, of all nationalities, sexes and sexualities, has a stake in Pat Washington’s struggle to get her job back. Those who know in their bones that an injury to one is an injury to all—the working-class truth that the union movement was built on—can find more information about how to they can help Washington in this battle by visiting www.patwashington.org.

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