Former Prof. Wins $4-Million in Sex-Discrimination Suit

Bitch Ph.D. has a short post about the case of Janet Conney v. The Regents of the University of California, et al.

In case you don’t remember, Janet Conney is the former clinical psychiatry professor at UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital who sued the UC Board of Regents and UCLA back in 2003 for sexual discrimination. (She’s now in private practice.)

Here’s more on the case from the AAUW:

In 1998, Conney signed a contract with UCLA for a full-time fellowship position, but three years later, the school denied her the promotion and reassigned her as a part-time employee with a significant pay cut. She later learned that similarly situated male coworkers were paid double or more what she earned, and that they were offered promotions that she was told were unavailable.

Conney says her supervisor was overly critical of her work and made disparaging comments about her to others in the department. She also says that two other male colleagues—physicians at her rank—made suggestive comments to her about her appearance. Little was done by the administration in regards to Conney’s complaints about harassment and pay inequity, and in 2002, her contract was terminated.

In addition to the original complains Conney had against the school, it was discovered during court proceedings that her UCLA department had a secret reserve of money that they used to supplement the salaries of male faculty members only.

The good news is that Conney won the suit — she was awarded $4.07-million this March — and the California Supreme Court has refused to hear the Board of Regents’ appeal.