
Back in June of 2001, then-IVC President Raghu Mathur, who currently serves as Chancellor of the SOCCCD, tweaked the hiring process for
dean of health sciences, physical education and athletics at the college to get the underling he wanted—a twit he could control—and to avoid getting the underling he did
not want, namely, Cely Mora, a strong and highly competent woman. (See
Teachers, students protest athletic director’s transfer.)
Long-time Mathur observers know that the former chemistry teacher tends not to get along with women, especially strong and competent women. (See
Mathur vs. women.)
As we reported nearly a year ago,
[In 2001,] then-IVC President Mathur hired a white guy from Virginia to be Dean of Health Sciences, PE, and Athletics at IVC. The guy didn't look like much, on paper or otherwise. That was bad enough, but he was chosen, by Mathur, over Cely Mora, a popular educator with a state-wide reputation for excellence in her field.
According to the search committee, she was by far the superior candidate. But she's a woman, so Raghu decided to go with the guy with sh*tty paper.
Plus the guy's name was "Rodney Poindexter." [The fellow turned out to be unstable.] People were plenty pissed off.
Cely decided to take the matter to civil court. She sued Mathur personally for racial and gender discrimination. She had a strong case, as these kinds of cases go. But, to the amazement of many observers, the judge granted summary judgment in favor of [Mathur]; further, he ruled that she must pay Mathur's attorneys fees.
The ruling was ridiculous, and so Cely appealed, and, in August of [2005], the appellate court unanimously decided that the original judge's granting of summary judgment in favor of Mathur was improper, as was his decision concerning attorneys fees.
(To see how well Mathur’s twitular white male turned out, see
Complaints, suit filed against college dean.)
Well, at long last, court is in session--or, rather, it will be soon! The trial--it's a jury trial--is set for next week, from Tuesday through Thursday, in Los Angeles.
Today, several IVC faculty and at least one former administrator were given notices to appear (on the first day of trial, I'm told). Don’t know who else was summoned.
Stay tuned.
 |
TIMES 6-29-02 |