I won my case on a violation of my 14th Amendment Rights of Due Process.


On July 25, 2016, U.S. District Court Judge Cindy K. Jorgenson issued her order.  This is summarized in the article in the Arizona Daily Star dated September 18, 2016.  The original article , including the judge's order can be accessed at the end of the article at http://tucson.com/news/local/education/pima-college-boss-violated-civil-rights-of-ex-employee-judge/article_78f4f548-026d-5e6b-a7e9-9f0a366772ef.html  or you can read the Judge's order of July 25, 2016 here.


A follow-up article appeared in the Arizona Daily Star dated September 23, 2016.  The original article can be accessed at http://tucson.com/news/local/education/college/pcc-board-backs-lambert-but-discipline-could-follow-court-case/article_e87445d9-12f1-5645-a6ae-c6f121cd9db1.html


What does Judge Jorgenson’s ruling do for employees at Pima Community College?

If you have any disciplinary or employment related hearing, first, read the College Employee Policy Statement.  Make sure that all the steps in the procedure are followed.

For any complaint procedure/meeting, bring a representative from your representative group.  If a representative is not available, reschedule the meeting.

To protect your 14th Amendment rights to due process, at the initial meeting, insist that it be chaired by an impartial individual.  Also, insist that the proceedings of the meeting be transcribed, again, by an impartial individual.  If those individuals are not provided, reschedule the meeting and leave.   (Based on my experience, and that of others, an HR representative is not an impartial individual.)

You have a right to be provided with a copy of the complaint.  That must be a written, detailed description of the complaint with appropriate documentation including names, time, and date.  It must be delivered personally or by certified mail.

If the complaint is delivered personally, at the meeting, ask for time to read that complaint and schedule a meeting to discuss and respond to the complaint.

Do not accept any hearsay information.

You must be permitted to respond to the complaint in the timeline outlined in the Employee Policy Statement.


Pima Community College has been on academic probation since April 6, 2013 by the Chicago-based Higher Learning Commission as a result of a report that faulted the ethics and competence of college executives and Board members.  Read the article from the Arizona Daily Star.

Read the Report from the HLC

The article, along with the HLC report can be accessed at http://tucson.com/news/local/education/pima-community-college-slapped-with-years-of-probation/article_c632881d-944b-53cc-9734-4e1937422c5c.html


In 2015, the college was removed from Probation and placed On Notice by the HLC.  This is a lesser form of probation status.


A 2015 Faculty Survey showed major division on whether Chancellor Lee Lambert was doing a good job.  See the summary of the survey.


On September 26-27, 2016, a team from the HLC visited Pima Community College to review the On Notice status.  The team met with a well orchestrated set of forums at the college.   Here is information about a forum with C-FAIRR, a community group that is concerned with affairs at the college and what was supposed to be a Community Forum.  There is also an article in the Arizona Daily Star 


On October 12, 2016, Chancellor Lee Lambert wrote an op-ed in the Arizona Daily Star.  Unfortunately, Chancellor Lambert has never mentioned that in the HLC's original investigation of PCC, in 2013, while harsh in its criticism of the school's top executives and Board of Governors, found no fault with the quality of the college's academic programs despite the turmoil at the top.

The results of the HLC visit will be published in 2017.


What Happened in 2011?

Recent news articles in the Aztec Press, about me, kept referring to events from 2011.  These articles are:
         http://aztecpressonline.com/2016/10/ex-instructor-college-to-discuss-settlement/ 
     and
         http://aztecpressonline.com/2016/11/27850/

From what I learned, Pima C.C. Information-Czar, Libby Howell, is responsible for continuing to bring up this issue.  To set the record straight, here are the important memos regarding that incident.  (The adjunct instructor's name has been blacked out.)
   
        Initial memo dated March 28, 2011 and my course syllabus for CHM 121, Spring 2011

         Reply from my dean, dated  April 8, 2011

         My reply to my dean dated April 8, 2011    



On November 21, a final settlement in this case was signed by Chancellor Lee Lambert and PCC Governing Board chairman Mark Hanna.  An summary article appeared in the December 9, 2016 issue of the Arizona Daily Star.

My case was not unique.  The "normal" procedure at PCC, in dealing with someone the administration did not agree with was to make the individual's life so miserable with inflated and false accusations that they would just leave the college.  In my case, there was no documentation, so I chose to fight the administration.  To further show the administration's tactics, see the article:

Second judge finds Lambert violated PCC employee's civil rights 

in the Arizona Daily Star, dated March 19, 2017


See an Evaluation of PCC's Chamcellor, Lee Lambert PimaCC Page 3

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