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Fired UCLA Professor Files Grievance Against The University

   DailyWire.com

Keith Fink, who was let go from his position as a part-time lecturer at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), is filing a grievance against the university for wrongfully terminating him.

Fink underwent UCLA’s Excellence Review process where in the 18th quarter of teaching, a panel of faculty members review student evaluations of the teacher as well as a designated faculty evaluation, and vote on whether the teacher can stay at UCLA. In Fink’s case, the panel deadlocked, leaving his fate in the hands of Dean of Social Sciences Laura Gomez. Gomez decided to let Fink go.

Now Fink is fighting back against the university. Campus Reform reported on Tuesday that Fink has filed a grievance against the university claiming that the administration railroaded him throughout the Excellence Review process.

Fink specifically cited the panel as consisting of people who were biased against him and weren’t well-versed in the subject matter he taught: employment law and free speech. He also claimed that they repeatedly violated the rules, which included not providing him with 30 days notice of his Excellence Review deadline to provide relevant documents to the panel, frequently changing dates in the process in an untimely manner, and not giving full weight to student evaluations solicited by Fink.

Under Fink’s union contract, he must file a grievance before filing an official lawsuit. If his grievance succeeds, then he will receive a second chance at an Excellence Review where he would presumably be treated fairly and objectively. But if his grievance fails, he will file a lawsuit against UCLA.

Andrew Litt, who works at Fink’s law firm and served as his teacher’s aide, told Campus Reform that while “the grievance is extremely strong on the merits, unfortunately we’re dealing with people who routinely bend, break, and invent rules to suit their interests.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if the University responds with the same behavior,” Litt said.

The Daily Wire has extensively reported on Fink’s situation, which included detailing the unfair treatment Fink received from the UCLA administration during his Excellence Review process as well as the bias from Gomez and Communications Department Chair Kerri Johnson.

Clearly, Fink is not going down without a fight.

“Mr. Fink is not putting this matter to rest — and rightfully so,” Litt told Campus Reform.

Follow Aaron Bandler on Twitter.

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