News Summary
Gordon Klein, a UCLA lecturer, is set to take his $22 million lawsuit against UCLA to trial, stemming from his suspension after refusing to grade Black students more leniently during protests. Klein claims the university’s actions ruined his expert witness practice and damaged his reputation. The case will address complex issues around academic freedom and discrimination amid significant public division on the matter. As the trial approaches, UCLA maintains that Klein’s suspension was justified due to his response’s tone, while Klein argues he was wronged.
Santa Monica — UCLA lecturer Gordon Klein is preparing to take his $22 million lawsuit against the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to trial on July 1. The suit arises from Klein’s controversial suspension in June 2020 after he declined a request to grade Black students more leniently during the George Floyd protests.
Klein, who has been a lecturer at UCLA since 1981, experiences significant professional difficulties following his suspension. He claims that the university’s actions have led to the destruction of his expert witness practice, which previously generated about $1 million per year. Court documents submitted in the lawsuit indicate that he was publicly suspended and suffered a damaged reputation, which Klein argues resulted in his practice being “permanently destroyed.”
The lawsuit, first filed in September 2021, has seen various delays in its trial date. As the examinations progress, Klein’s legal team argues that his suspension, deemed “essentially unmarketable and unusable” for his expert witness role, significantly diminished his career opportunities. The trial will be a bench trial, meaning a judge will determine the outcome rather than a jury.
UCLA’s defense counters these claims by asserting that Klein lacks standing to sue because he did not complete an arbitration process. However, Klein maintains that it was the University of California regents who neglected to finalize this process. The university claims that Klein’s suspension was a result of his “tone and manner,” rather than the content of his email response to the student’s request, and suggests that prior issues contributed to the decision.
Despite the legal battle, Klein continues his role as a full-time lecturer at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where he has an “unblemished” employment record spanning 44 years. His professional credentials are notable, having served as an expert witness in high-profile legal cases including those involving Michael Jackson and Apple’s acquisition of Beats headphones.
The controversy that led to Klein’s suspension stemmed from a student’s request for accommodation for Black students who were emotionally distressed after George Floyd’s death. In his response, Klein criticized the request, questioning how he could identify Black students in an online environment and referencing Martin Luther King Jr.’s principle of not judging individuals by skin color. This response incited widespread backlash, culminating in a petition for his removal that attracted over 21,000 signatures.
A considerable counter-petition supporting Klein received more than 75,000 signatures, illustrating the divide in public opinion regarding the incident. The divisive nature of the case escalated when Dean Antonio Bernardo condemned Klein’s actions, resulting in his suspension and leading to an investigation by the university.
Although Klein was reinstated less than a month later, he claims that the damage to his reputation was irreversible. His lawsuit alleges violations related to privacy rights, breach of contract, and retaliatory discrimination by UCLA. As the legal proceedings advance, some of Klein’s claims have gained traction in court, while others have faced dismissal, reflecting a mixture of outcomes regarding his case.
The coming trial in July is poised to address these complex issues and determine the future of Klein’s substantial claims against UCLA, amid the ongoing discussions regarding academic freedom, discrimination, and the repercussions of public statements in the wake of social justice movements.
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Additional Resources
- The College Fix
- Wikipedia: Academic Freedom
- Daily Bruin
- Google Search: Gordon Klein UCLA
- NBC News
- Google Scholar: UCLA discrimination case
- California Globe
- Encyclopedia Britannica: Discrimination
- Poets & Quants
- Google News: Gordon Klein UCLA controversy
