90 Miles From Tyranny : UCLA prof suspended after refusing lenient grading for black students demands $19 million-plus in damages

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Sunday, February 11, 2024

UCLA prof suspended after refusing lenient grading for black students demands $19 million-plus in damages



A professor who sued UCLA after he was suspended in the wake of the George Floyd-Black Lives Matter riots after refusing a request to grade black students leniently will soon get his day in court.

UCLA accounting lecturer Gordon Klein is demanding well over $19 million in damages in a lawsuit scheduled to go to trial March 4 in a Santa Monica courthouse.

The two sides have engaged in legal wrangling since September 2021, when Klein first filed suit — including a failed attempt by UCLA’s lawyers to get the case tossed by summary judgment.

The causes of action to be hashed out next month are breach of contract, retaliation, false light, and negligent interference with prospective earnings.

Klein’s attorney, Steve Goldberg, told The College Fix in a telephone interview this week the lion’s share of damages are based on the estimated loss of Klein’s expert witness practice income.

“That practice went to ashes right after he was suspended,” said Goldberg with the law firm Markun, Zusman & Compton.

UCLA’s media relations division did not provide a comment on the lawsuit despite repeated requests this week.

Klein, who joined the UCLA Anderson School of Management in 1981, continues to teach as a full-time lecturer there. But his lawsuit alleges he made most of his money as a litigation expert.

He has testified, for example, in several high-profile court cases, including Michael Jackson’s wrongful death, Apple’s acquisition of Dr. Dre’s Beats headphones, and the valuation of General Motors’ assets in bankruptcy.

“He was one of the top damages experts in the country who was historically bringing in well over $1 million dollars a year and trending upwards when it happened,” Goldberg said.

Klein’s lawsuit alleges the controversy and bad press that surrounded him in June 2020 made him untouchable as a litigation expert.

The crux of the controversy took place following Floyd’s death, when Klein received a request asking that he provide academic leniency for his black students enduring emotional duress.

It was a relatively common request at the time among college students at several universities as the nation was gripped with racial tension and rioting.

Klein responded June 2, 2020, by asking how he was supposed to identify black students in the online class; whether he should also go easy on white students from Minneapolis; how much leeway to show half-black students; and how the student feels about Martin Luther King Jr.’s admonition to not evaluate people based on...


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7 comments:

Matthew said...

Yet the "family" of George Floyd, a pack of absolute losers, who experienced exactly zero injustice, had cash shoveled at them almost immediately after his OD and settled for another $27 million less than 10 months later.

This guy has his career trashed because he calmly retained his sanity while race baiters were celebrating the burning of cities and turning society upside-down.

If he'd taken to the streets with a sign, smashed some windows and burned a few police cruisers, he would have been given a raise, tenure and a flowery Wikipedia page.

We're doomed

Anonymous said...

I met my wife at UCLA in the mid 70s. I was in Electrical Engineering and she was in Finance. I worked my was through college by working for the Phone Company but her family paid for her.

Education has gone down on all levels since we graduated. Our sons were born in Northern California in the mid and late 80s. They were going to a good school system until my company transferred me to Northern Virginia at the start of 1996. We ended up in Loudoun County, VA and had issues with the teachers, admin, and the school board but got nowhere. We ended up tutoring our sons in each class until they graduated HS.

Both sons decided on different Trade Schools. It was a good choice as the cost they paid was less than half a year of college. They both make 6 figure salaries, have houses, cars, and good bank accounts,

Anonymous said...

Mark E. Tuckerman of NYU fired a professor of statistics because a couple of black students whined that the professor graded too hard. That professor was 84 and graded the same way for over 50 years. Given the professor's age, he would die before a lawsuit ever made it to conclusion.

Never hire a NYU grad until you determine they are technically competent.

Anonymous said...

My mistake, looks like it was organic chemistry. In either case, a very objective subject.

boron said...

$19 million!
still not enough.

Anonymous said...

Why do we have a govt? To protect Israel from war crimes & to make sure those TBTF Wall Street banks always get bailed out after their bets go sour. Like they have again.

NYCB Downgraded to Junk; Shocking Charts for Citigroup, Barclays and Deutsche Bank

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2024/02/nycb-downgraded-to-junk-shocking-charts-for-citigroup-barclays-and-deutsche-bank/

Anonymous said...

I wonder how many of Floyd’s “family” have overdosed since they hit the jackpot?