• About the AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund
• Current LAF supported cases in California:
  Pat Washington v SDSU
  Janet Conney v UCLA
  Christina Grudzinski v UC Irvine Medical Center
  Carol Mandell v Regents of the University of California-Davis
• Other California LAF News (Gloria Weston Campus Outreach Fund)
• Donate
• LAF Forms for California branches
• Schedule a Speaker and general contact information
• LAF Tools for branch use
• AAUW California LAF email list
• Other websites

• LAF Update: complete news on all LAF plaintiffs.
• Apply for case support. All support is funded nationally.
• Progress in Equity Award. Awarded nationally to programs at higher education institutions that support sex equity on campus.

The AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund (LAF) provides financial and emotional support for women seeking redress in the courts for sex discrimination in academia. LAF, established in 1981, is the largest legal fund focused entirely on this objective.

A volunteer network of attorneys and social scientists work with the LAF to provide plaintiffs with the support they need. Criteria for a case acceptance and additional information can be found at www.aauw.org/laf/cases/casesupp.cfm

To date the Legal Advocacy Fund has awarded over $1,000,000 to plaintiffs. AAUW-California has consistently led the country in LAF contributions. The deadline for contributions to be sent to the state office is December 1. Contributions can be sent anytime throughout the year. (Link to branch contribution transmittal form in our Members Only area.)

Nineteen of the 76 cases adopted by LAF have had California plaintiffs. Currently, we have two active cases (UC Irvine Medical Center and UC Davis).

Four key programs drive the work of the LAF: case support, the network of attorneys, the campus outreach program, and the Progress in Equity award.

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When we read the basic facts of a case, it is difficult to imagine the impact on the plaintiff’s life and on her family. Attending trial or hearing a plaintiff speak allows a first-hand experience.

At its February 2004 meeting, the AAUW LAF Board of Directors selected a plaintiff from California. Her information follows. As with all LAF plaintiffs, her schedule will be handled by the AAUW California LAF Scheduler C. McDonnell.

Washington v. Trustees of the California State University and Colleges, et al.

Brief Case History:
Pat Washington, former assistant professor in the women's studies department at San Diego State University in California (SDSU), sued the university for sex and race discrimination combined in the denial of tenure, retaliation for complaining about the discrimination, and pay inequity under California state laws.

Washington, a black woman, began employment at SDSU in 1996 as a tenure-track professor in the women's studies department. At the time she was hired, she was the first black tenure-track professor in the department's 30-year history. She remained the department's only full-time non-white tenure-track professor throughout her employment at SDSU. During the course of her employment, the university renewed Washington's appointment three times. However, despite her strong record of service, teaching, and professional growth, Washington maintained that faculty members within the department subjected her to a racially hostile work environment.

Washington alleges that she was held to a far higher, and highly subjective, standard for achieving tenure than her white female colleagues in women's studies, or white females and males throughout SDSU. She also alleges that the university paid her a lower salary than similarly situated male professors and that there is a practice of paying lower wages to women faculty.

In 2002, Washington filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that she had been discriminated against on the basis of her sex/race combined. The EEOC found in her favor and recommended that the university award her tenure, promotion to associate professor, and back pay with benefits. Despite the EEOC's determination, conciliation efforts between Washington and the university have proven unsuccessful.

At its February 2004 meeting, the LAF Board of Directors voted to adopt Washington's case for support and awarded Washington an initial $5,000 grant. See the case history.

Recent News (updated 11/04)
In August 2004, the defendants filed a motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV), or in the alternative, a partial JNOV on the economic damages verdict. The defendants also filed a motion for a new trial. In October 2004, the court denied both motions. The defendants have since filed a notice of appeal to the California Court of Appeals.

Case History
Janet Conney, a former assistant clinical professor at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital (UCLA), sued the Regents of the University of California and UCLA for sexual harassment and retaliation for complaining of discrimination under California state laws, and pay inequity under both the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and California state laws. She also sued three former male colleagues individually for other claims.

In 1998, Conney received a geriatric psychiatry fellowship position at UCLA where she researched, published, and was mentored by senior colleagues. The department director offered her a promotion to assistant clinical professor within the department in February 2001 for compensation of $103,000. Conney accepted and signed a contract for this promotion.

Conney claims that beginning in spring 2001, three of her male colleagues -- including one of her supervisors -- created a hostile work environment for her. She states that the supervisor was overly critical of her work and made disparaging comments about her to other doctors and secretaries in the department. She also states that the other two male colleagues -- physicians at her rank -- made suggestive comments to her about her body. Conney claims that she was subjected to this treatment throughout the rest of her employment at UCLA.

In July 2001, when UCLA did not receive grant funds in a timely manner, UCLA officials informed Conney that they would not be able to give her the promotion to assistant clinical professor. Conney alleges that although she was reassigned as a 2/3-time employee with a reduced salary of $66,000, she maintained a full-time schedule. She later learned that similarly situated male co-workers were paid 50-100% more than she, and that they applied for and were offered promotions that she was told would not be available.

In March 2002, the director of Conney’s department informed Conney that her job status was uncertain. She lodged complaints with the human resources department in April and June 2002 with few results. UCLA declined to renew her contract in June 2002. Conney states that in the months following her departure, the institution withheld her last paycheck and failed to pay out to her accrued vacation time as further retaliation for complaining about sex discrimination.

Conney filed her complaint in California state court in 2003. On July 27, 2004, a California superior court jury awarded Conney a total of $2.95 million in damages and found that UCLA violated California state laws by discriminating against Conney on the basis of her sex. The jury also found in favor of Conney's charge that the university retaliated against her after she protested the treatment she received.

Grudzinski lost her 1998 trial in which she alleged that she was terminated from her residency program in urology in retaliation for her complaints about continuing sexual harassment. The judge ordered her to pay the defendant a $1.1 million attorney fee award based on a finding that her lawsuit was frivolous. Grudzinski appealed the decision and the attorney fee award. The California Court of Appeals has affirmed the lower court's judgment for the university. Grudzinski still awaits a decision from the California Court of Appeals regarding her motion for an en banc hearing. She also awaits a decision from the California Supreme Court regarding her petition for a hearing. See the case history.

Mandell is a former assistant professor and research pathologist at the University of California-Davis School of Medicine. She sued the university for failure to hire and promote based on sex, age, and national origin. Following the district court's tentative ruling on the defendant's motion for summary judgment in August 2002, ruling in favor of Mandell on two out of three claims, the court handed down its final decision in October 2002. In its decision, the court reversed the tentative ruling and granted summary judgment on all counts, dismissing the suit in its entirety. Mandell petitioned the court for reconsideration, and the court upheld its ruling. Mandell won her appeal and the case has been remanded back to the lower court for a jury trial.

The LAF board and Rawalt Trustees have awarded a total of $58,130.82 in support of Mandell’s case. See the case details.

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A convenient secure online donation form is available on the LAF website at: https://svc.aauw.org/contribute/laf.cfml, providing the ability to credit your donation to your branch and state.

For further information about donating to LAF, contact: AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund, 1111 Sixteenth St. N.W., Washington, DC 20036, 202/785-7719
Donations are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law.

You may also print out the donor form and submit it with your donation to the AAUW California office at PO Box 160067, Sacramento, CA 95816-0067. donor form

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See our list of forms in our Members Only area for LAF contribution form and LAF contribution information sheet.

There are former plaintiffs located in California who may be available to speak to your group as well as network attorneys and expert witnesses. AAUW California LAF also has a speakers available to speak about Title IX and Roe v. Wade. Some plaintiffs may not be able to speak about all aspects of their cases due to confidential settlements. For information on requesting a speaker, see our LAF Speaker Request form ( 146 KB).

LAF Quiz:
LAF Quiz - Tic Tac Toe Game Board ( 226 KB)
LAF Quiz - Questions ( 74 KB)

LAF Readers' Theater:
LAF Readers' Theater ( 135 KB)

The AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund is one of several areas for which AAUW California provides an e-mail announcement list for interested parties. To subscribe to the LAF E-Mail list, visit: LAF E-Mail List Information and follow instructions for subscribing to the list (please enter your name even though it says 'optional'). Or, send an e-mail to our office, with "subscribe-laf list" in the subject line.

WAGE (We Advocate Gender Equity) focuses on gender equity issues within the University of California system.

The Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor has information and statistics on many workplace issues. This link goes to the Region IX office, located in San Francisco, which covers all of California and several other states.

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