Cal State System Settles Bias Suit by Feminists

Although it denies wrongdoing, the California State University system has agreed to pay a total of $110,000 to six former teachers and administrators who sued the system, alleging they were forced out of jobs because of their feminist beliefs.

The suit, filed in 1982, charged that Cal State Long Beach caved into conservative religious groups and politicians in not renewing the contract of Sondra Hale, who was director of the campus Women’s Studies Program, and in cutting teaching loads and jobs of other plaintiffs.

ACLU attorney Jon W. Davidson, who represented the women, described the settlement as a victory for academic freedom. However, a university spokeswoman claimed the university would have won any trial but decided it wouldn’t be worth the legal expenses. Women’s Studies at the Long Beach campus became controversial in 1982 when conservatives such as Phyllis Schafly contended the program advocated homosexuality.