"A faculty member at any state college, and indeed, a mail room employee in the state Motor Vehicle Department would have more rights than you have given me."
Henry tuned her out. All this legal stuff, he thought, is just to give her attorney crap to fill a brief. Murrain had told him this would probably happen. Now, what's this? Alertly, Henry listened.
"There are strong reasons to believe this panel has operated in violation of my state and federal rights. If this committee does not end this unfortunate proceeding, the U.S. District Court will finally have to determine these issues.
"This committee, at the last hearing, made several promises to me and I was fool enough to believe them. It said that it would issue a decision within a few weeks; instead, it launched a new investigation of its own without my knowledge or participation which consumed over half a year. Second, this committee assured me that I would not be affected by these charges as I continued my teaching assignments in the department. 'Go back to work,' you all assured me at the last hearing. 'Everything is taken care of.' I went back and was ordered to move out of my office into a corner of the nutrition teaching lab. I was denied a telephone and given no help in moving my things. My name has been removed from the department mail boxes and department meetings are held when I am teaching classes. For these many months, while you reopened the investigation behind my back, I have been a non-person in my department."
Jane shifted in her chair uneasily. She recalled how all of these promises had been made when the panel had ended the first hearing. In fact, she had made some of them herself. It had seemed then, she reflected, that the evidence against Diana was inconclusive and that the majority of the panel felt this was so. She had expected that just a simple vote of the panel would send Diana back to her classroom where she belonged.
"I have served this university for nearly a quarter-century. Students have consistently reviewed my efforts favorably and that is a source of much consternation in my department. The entire central administration is prosecuting me, angered because I insisted on minimal rights. For example: I refused to have my job eliminated or my copyrighted manual used without my consent. They are determined to terminate me and have spared no resources in support of that goal. It would appear that some of these efforts violate my rights under state law, federal law, and the Constitution."
That's really what it's all about, decided Annette, as she kept her head lowered and her eyes fastened on the unseen files before her. Violation of her rights. Violation of my rights to freely consider the evidence both for and against her and render an impartial judgment.
"I believe this case represents what is in store for a person who does not remain in the favor of those who determine policy for this university.
"I have been accused of writing seven SmurFFs over a two year period. Only five of these seven were alleged to have been detrimental to two faculty men, Ian and Randy. This is five out of the six to eight hundred submitted for medical radiology during that time. At a minimum, even were these charges true, the misconduct of which I am accused would be dishonesty, but of a variety with no real import or effect."
Diana stopped and reached for the glass of water in front of her. I wish I could tell these people what it has been like working here in this university for the last twenty-five years. If they would only listen, I'd throw out this prepared statement in a flash and start with....her thoughts went back only a very few years, to before the affirmative action laws.