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UC setting itself up for discrimination lawsuits

UC setting itself up for discrimination lawsuits


UC setting itself up for discrimination lawsuits

The president of one of the nation's premier civil liberties organizations is concerned about the University of California's new performance review system.

On its website, the school declares that learning about and implementing anti-racist principles and practices are important steps toward becoming a place "where everyone belongs." So in an effort to establish principles and practices that can be uniformly applied to "cultivate a climate of belonging" for minorities, UC has introduced its "Anti-Racism Learning and Reflection Tool," which is "designed to facilitate learning, self-reflection, and conversations with respect to anti-racism among supervisors of UC staff."

The College Fix explains that the review system provides 10 anti-racist principles and practices with a 1 to 5 scale that ranges from "resists" on one end to "champions" on the other.

John Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, warns against "overaccommodating so-called non-white employees in favor of their race."

Whitehead, John (Rutherford Institute) Whitehead

"That would bring up another issue: A discrimination claim," he tells AFN. "You're probably going to see more lawsuits in this area."

Whitehead says performance evaluations need to be instituted in such a way so as not to alarm employees.

"You've got officials that really want to see a fair workplace and how we work in it, but not to the point where we're afraid to use this word or that word, and you can't have private conversations and [are] afraid of getting reported," he submits. "That would be quite intimidating."

The Fix notes the evaluation was developed by two executives for the diversity, equity, and inclusion in the UC system.