Faculty Rights Tip: What to Do When You Want to Report Discrimination, Harassment, or Retaliation
Article 16 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the “Non-Discrimination” article, “prohibits discrimination against faculty unit employees on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, marital status, pregnancy, age, disability, medical condition, or veteran status.”
Additionally, the CSU’s Executive Order 1096 — “System wide Policy Prohibiting Discrimination, Harassment, Retaliation, Sexual Misconduct, Dating and Domestic Violence, and Stalking against Employees and Third Parties and System wide Procedure for Addressing Such Complaints by Employees and Third Parties”—further protects faculty from acts and conduct that violate civil rights guaranteed by various laws.
Unlike other CSU employees, employees represented by the CFA/CSU Collective Bargaining Agreement do not use the complaint process set out in Executive Order 1096 when they wish to make complaints. Instead, faculty may file grievances and/or complain to California’s Department of Fair Housing and Discrimination (DFEH) and/or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
If you or someone you know wishes to file a grievance about discrimination and related violations of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, policies, and laws, contact CFA for advice and assistance.
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We always recommend that faculty file complaints with DFEH if they are facing discrimination, harassment, and/or retaliation. DFEH is uniquely equipped to investigate and advocate for California workers, has a broader fields of protection than the federal agency, and will cross-file with the EEOC when appropriate.
On February 4, 2021, at the bargaining table, the CSU proposed to eliminate the ability to grieve on issues of discrimination within the contract, therefore barring faculty from arbitrating discrimination complaints. Instead, these would go entirely through the Executive Order (EO) 1096 process. EO 1096’s administration findings would be the end of the line. You can read the CSU’s proposal here and read all bargaining proposals, ours and theirs, here.
CFA continues to embrace principles and practices of anti-racism and social justice transformation within our union, and we continue to offer trainings and workshops on Interrupting Racism at campuses and, when requested, within departments or other units. Contact your CFA chapter leaders to learn more about upcoming workshops on your campus.
Want to learn more? Become active with your local CFA chapter Faculty Rights team. Find your representative here.
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