February 11, 2008

Please Oppose Sex Discrimination At CSU Fresno

Dear Friends,

Today we ask you to write to the State Assembly Women's Caucus urging them to support moves that could end further discrimination against women at Cal State University Fresno (CSU Fresno).

For those of you who want to get right to it, click on the following link:

http://www.capwebworks.com/game/login.aspx?clientid=2097637190&clientproductid=2059701681&hdr=lambda

Then click on "02-11-08 Please Demand The Resignation of CSU Fresno President John Welty "

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BACKGROUND

Recently CSU Fresno has lost three discrimination suits brought by women employees who experienced sex discrimination at the school. As a result the state has had to pay many millions of dollars to the discrimination victims. And yet the President of the school, who should accept ultimate responsibility for the problems at his school, remains on the job. The trustees of the Cal State University system have even resisted doing an early evaluation of his job performance.

Here are the facts on the discrimination cases. The most recent and biggest check ($19.1 million) is going to former women's basketball coach Stacy Johnson-Klein.Johnson Klein was fired in 2005 after arguing for equal rights for female athletes, according to her suit. After eight weeks of testimony, the jury took less than four hours to decide that Fresno had discriminated and retaliated against Johnson-Klein.Johnson Klein offered the school a chance to settle for less than $1 million a few months ago and the school counter-offered with $550,000, which she declined.

In 2004 CSU Fresno fired Linda Vivas from her position as head volleyball coach. Despite maintaining a overall record of 263 wins and 167 losses, as well taking the Fresno State women's volleyball team to its highest percentage win ever, Vivas was fired. They claimed she had failed to fulfill the terms of her contract. CSU Fresno produced the obligatory paper trail detailing how Vivas supposedly "fell short of 'objective' criteria" and steadfastly denied that Vivas' opposition to the disparate treatment of female athletes had any bearing on their decision to fire her. But the jury saw through the university's protestations of innocence. They awarded her $5,852,069.

Diane Milutinovich was fired as associate athletics director in 2002 reportedly for budgetary reasons, and in 2006 from the job to which she was transferred, director of the student union. Milutinovich noted the athletic department's budget increased from $18 million to $22 million between 2002 and 2006, including 17 new jobs, which belies the claim of the department's budget problems. Attorneys for CSU Fresno and former Associate Athletic Director Diane Milutinovich have agreed to settle her case for $3.5 million.

In just those three cases of discrimination the state has had to pay out $28.4 million of your money to the victims of sex discrimination by CSU Fresno. That cannot continue. The President of CSU, who let it happen, must go. Please write to the members of the Women's caucus in the Assembly. Please urge them to demand the resignation of President Welty.

SAMPLE MESSAGE

You will see the sample message when you follow the steps under How To Send Your Messages.

You do not need to cut and paste the message. However, several people have asked to see a copy of the message in the alert itself. So the body of the message we ask you to send is as follows: (Note: The E-mail software will add the address and salutation when you send your messages.)

Dear Assembly Member,

I urge you to demand the resignation of John Welty, President of CSU Fresno. He has cost the state over $28 million in fines for sex discrimination at his school. Given the state's budget crisis such losses must not be tolerated.

Recently CSU Fresno has lost three discrimination suits brought by women employees who experienced sex discrimination at the school. As a result the state has had to pay many millions of dollars to the discrimination victims. And yet the President of the school, who should accept ultimate responsibility for the problems at his school, remains on the job. The trustees of the Cal State University system have even resisted doing an early evaluation of his job performance.

Here are the facts on the discrimination cases. The most recent and biggest check ($19.1 million) is going to former women's basketball coach Stacy Johnson-Klein.Johnson Klein was fired in 2005 after arguing for equal rights for female athletes, according to her suit. After eight weeks of testimony, the jury took less than four hours to decide that Fresno had discriminated and retaliated against Johnson-Klein.Johnson Klein offered the school a chance to settle for less than $1 million a few months ago and the school counter-offered with $550,000, which she declined.

In 2004 CSU Fresno fired Linda Vivas from her position as head volleyball coach. Despite maintaining a overall record of 263 wins and 167 losses, as well taking the Fresno State women's volleyball team to its highest percentage win ever, Vivas was fired. They claimed she had failed to fulfill the terms of her contract. CSU Fresno produced the obligatory paper trail detailing how Vivas supposedly "fell short of 'objective' criteria" and steadfastly denied that Vivas' opposition to the disparate treatment of female athletes had any bearing on their decision to fire her. But the jury saw through the university's protestations of innocence. They awarded her $5,852,069.

Diane Milutinovich was fired as associate athletics director in 2002 reportedly for budgetary reasons, and in 2006 from the job to which she was transferred, director of the student union. Milutinovich noted the athletic department's budget increased from $18 million to $22 million between 2002 and 2006, including 17 new jobs, which belies the claim of the department's budget problems. Attorneys for CSU Fresno and former Associate Athletic Director Diane Milutinovich have agreed to settle her case for $3.5 million.

In just those three cases of discrimination the state has had to pay out $28.4 million of taxpayer money to the victims of sex discrimination by CSU Fresno. That cannot continue. The President of CSU, who let it happen, must go. Please demand that he resign.

Sincerely,

HOW TO SEND YOUR MESSAGES

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The Lambda Letters Project