Former CSULB Lecturer Sues For Discrimination, Retaliation

LOS ANGELES, CA — A former Cal State Long Beach assistant professor in Africana Studies is suing the university, the CSU Board of Trustees, the creator of the Kwanzaa holiday and others for disability discrimination and retaliation, alleging she was chided due to her foreign accent and told she didn't speak as well as her fellow Afro-European, Idris Alba.

Plaintiff Anique John also contends in her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that she was "constructively terminated" in 2024 due to disparate treatment from management because she had multiple sclerosis. She maintains she received work-related calls while hospitalized with the condition.

A CSULB spokesman said the university does not comment on pending litigation.

John was hired as an assistant professor and lecturer in Africana Studies in August 2022 and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis three months later. She alleges she became the target of criticism for no reason by department Chairman Ron Maulana Karenga, now known as Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga. Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 as the first pan-African holiday.

After a department-wide academic event, Karenga approached John and ridiculed her European accent, calling it "un-American, cold and harsh" while also stating that she did not speak like Alba, the suit states. John believed Karenga insinuated that all Afro-Europeans should speak a certain way, the suit filed Wednesday further states.

John complained about Karenga to a dean to no avail, the suit alleges. The dean also was indifferent when John told her about the plaintiff's multiple sclerosis and neither the dean nor Karenga offered John any accommodations, according to the complaint.

John also believed she was not given the guidance and mentorship that Karenga offered other employees, but rather than address her concerns, an administration member suspended her for 60 days on grounds of unprofessional conduct, the suit states.

When the 60 days were up in March 2023, John inquired about returning, but the human resources manager told her the suspension was extended through the end of the spring semester on a "new, baseless ground of dishonesty," the suit states.

John tried to return in August of that year, but the lock to her office was changed and both Karenga and the dean ignored her when she reached out, exacerbating the plaintiff's multiple sclerosis, according to her complaint, which also states she was denied a request to teach a course remotely so she could limit risks to her health even though other professors were allowed to do so.

John collapsed on campus in March 2024 and was hospitalized for four days, but the administration continued to email her and demanded she address work-related items, the suit states. John was "constructively terminated" that same month because she could no longer tolerate the university's alleged disparate treatment, including a failure to accommodate her due to her health, the suit states.

John has suffered economic losses and emotional distress, according to her complaint, which seeks unspecified compensatory damages as well as punitive damages against Karenga and the dean.

City News Service