Washington – The American Association of University Women Legal Advocacy Fund adopted a third case against Feather River Community College in May. AAUW is supporting Paul Thein, who joined two former female employees in filing separate suits against the Quincy, CA school for retaliation for complaining of sex discrimination.
“Not one, not two, but three cases of Title IX violations were brought against Feather River Community College in one year,” said Lisa Maatz, interim director of the AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund. “A troubling pattern has clearly emerged, one that the community and college officials should pay close attention to.”
Paul Thein, former vice president of student services, athletic director, and dean of students at Feather River Community College, began working at the college in July 1999.
In June 2005, Thein voiced concern that the athletic department was not in compliance with Title IX. To remedy this, Thein recommended hiring someone with experience in Title IX compliance for the women’s basketball coach position. He also advocated making the women’s basketball coach a full-time tenure track position.
The following month, Thein and Michelle Jaureguito, Thein’s former employee and another AAUW-supported plaintiff, responded to a call alerting them to the inappropriate behavior of another college employee. The two visited the staff member’s home where they witnessed him consuming alcohol with underage students. Other students reported to Thein and Jaureguito that the faculty member sexually harassed them that evening.
Thein and Jaureguito reported the incident to the college president and Thein urged the president to contact the authorities. The president refused to give Thein permission to contact the U.S. Department of Education about the incident, even though the faculty member was being paid by a grant through the federal department.
After the incident, Thein reported persistent ridicule and threats from fellow staff members. Thein claims some staff members even tried to interfere with his efforts to bring the college into compliance with Title IX. After the incident, Jaureguito was terminated and has since filed suit against the college.
In September, Thein was told that his contract with the school would not be renewed for 2007. Two days later he was given a negative performance evaluation – the first negative evaluation he had received in his seven years at the college. In October, Thein was told he could not continue working and was put on administrative leave until his contract ended in June 2006.
“Paul Thein stood up for equality for women, protested sexual harassment, and sought equal pay and opportunities for the female faculty at Feather River Community College,” said Thein’s attorney, Michael Terhorst of Beeson Terhorst LLP. “The College sided with the discriminator and harasser and fired Paul in retaliation.”
In August 2006, Thein filed suit against the college for retaliation for complaining about sex discrimination. A trial date of July 2007 has been set for the whistleblower portion of this case; the sex discrimination portion will go to trial in January 2008. AAUW has provided $5,000 in case support to Thein thus far.
Thein brought in millions of dollars in federal grants and built a stellar athletic program at Feather River Community College. In past years, he earned the president’s “Gold Star” award for being an outstanding employee at Feather River, and was recognized as an “Outstanding Employee” by the student government association when he worked at a college in Kansas. Thein holds a master’s degree from the United States Sports Academy and an Ed.S. in Higher Education Leadership. He lives in Quincy, CA.
Read more about Thein v. Feather River Community College, Jaureguito v. Feather River Community College and Wartluft v. Feather River Community College.
To schedule an interview with AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund Interim Director Lisa Maatz, please contact Rebecca Leaf, senior media relations associate, at 202/785-7738, leafr@aauw.org or Ashley Carr, director of communications, at 202/785-7745, carra@aauw.org.
