Employment Discrimination On Campus – Administrative Restructuring Not Pretext For Discrimination

On February 13, 2018, the Fourth District of the California Court of Appeals issued an Order and Opinion affirming summary judgment for the Defendant, Riverside Community College District (RCC), on employment discrimination and whistleblower claims. The Plaintiff, a tenured faculty librarian and former college administrative dean at RCC, alleged that the College retaliated against her when it eliminated her administrative position at RCC pursuant to an administrative decision to restructure the deanship. Specifically, the Plaintiff alleged that RCC's decision to restructure the deanship was pretext for retaliatory actions taken to punish the Plaintiff for taking medical leave, reporting a hostile work environment, and objecting to student hiring decisions.