Wednesday, October 10, 2001

Union Files Grievance on Behalf of UCLA Librarian Suspended for Message About Terrorism By ANDREA L. FOSTER A University of California clerical union has filed a grievance with the University of California at Los Angeles on behalf of a university librarian who was suspended last month for sending out a mass e-mail message that criticized U.S. foreign policy in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The librarian, Jonnie A. Hargis, works in the reference- and instructional-services department of the Young Research Library. Reached by telephone Tuesday, he said he had been suspended from September 17 to 21 after replying to a colleague's mass e-mail message to library workers that sought to bolster U.S. patriotism. Administrators said Mr. Hargis's response violated a university policy that bars mass distribution of unsolicited electronic communications. Mr. Hargis's message, which went to the recipients of the original message, accused the United States and Israel of waging their own terrorist campaigns against civilian Iraqis and Palestinians. "U.S. taxpayers fund and arm an apartheid state called Israel, which is responsible for untold thousands upon thousands of deaths of Muslim Palestinian children and civilians," Mr. Hargis wrote. He also accused the United States of killing "hundreds of thousands of noncombatant Muslim civilians" in bombings of Iraq. His letter closed by asking, "So, who are the 'terrorists' anyway?" Mr. Hargis said Tuesday that he had responded to the original message because he found it "jingoistic, chauvinistic, and over the top." The first message was sent by Michelle Torre, who also works for the reference- and instructional-services department at the Young library. She was not suspended for sending the initial mass e-mail message, which cited a speech, titled "America: The Good Neighbor," by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian broadcaster. Lorraine Kram, head of the department, reprimanded Mr. Hargis in a September 14 letter. She wrote that his message "demonstrated a lack of sensitivity that went beyond incivility and became harassment." "Your comments contribute to a hostile and threatening environment" for your colleagues with ties to Israel and "for your other co-workers," the letter continued. Ms. Kram declined to elaborate on Tuesday, saying "personnel matters are confidential." The Coalition of University Employees, in the grievance it filed, argues that administrators denied Mr. Hargis his free-speech rights and unfairly singled him out for punishment, said Liz Go, an organizer with the union. In the grievance, the union asks the university to apologize to Mr. Hargis, compensate him for the pay he lost during his suspension, and require managers and employees at the university to undergo diversity training. Because of his suspension, Mr. Hargis has become a mini-celebrity, appearing on three radio talk shows in California. The UCLA student newspaper, The Daily Bruin, also came to his defense in an editorial that ran last Friday. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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