DOES AN EEOC FINDING IN FAVOR OF THE PLAINTIFF IN AN ACADEMIC DISCRIMINATION CASE MEAN ANYTHING?
I was denied tenure in the Womens Studies Department at San Diego State University in May 2001 and fired in May 2002. I experienced classic forms of race/sex discrimination and retaliation from my senior colleagues in Womens Studies, including shifting standards, hyper scrutiny, ridicule and devaluation of my work and accomplishments, negative stereotyping, shunning and ostracism. I filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the federal civil rights enforcement agency) in July of 2001. After a 14-month investigation, the EEOC issued findings against San Diego State University, stating there was reasonable cause to believe the university discriminated against me by denying me tenure and promotion and terminating me on the basis of race/sex combined and in retaliation for previous complaints. The EEOCs proposed remedies were reinstatement with tenure, promotion, back pay and benefits. My partner and I literally danced around my office when the EEOC findings came
