CSUN DEFENDS FIRING OUSTED EMPLOYEE CALLS DISCRIMINATION REVIEW A 'WHITEWASH'.

Byline: Robert Monroe Staff Writer

NORTHRIDGE - An African-American Jewish woman wasn't fired from the CSUN Student Health Center because of discrimination or retaliation, according to an administrative review, but she will still receive two months of retroactive pay and may get another job on campus, officials said Tuesday.

The review's conclusion angered the employee, Jacquelyn Barnette. ``It was a whitewash and I mean that in every sense of the word,'' said Barnette, who was hired in June as a medical records supervisor at the California State University, Northridge, health center.

University spokesman John Chandler said the retroactive pay is standard practice for nonprobationary employees during administrative reviews. Yet CSUN interim President Louanne Kennedy decided to pay retroactive salary for Barnette despite the fact that as a CSUN employee of less than a year, she was still on probation and not automatically eligible for the extra pay.

``The fact that we're doing that doesn't make any statement about the causes of her dismissal,'' said Chandler. ``Whatever was going on with her and her supervisors over there that led them to make their decision is a personnel matter.''

On Monday, university officials met with Barnette and Aaron Levinson of the San Fernando Valley office of the Anti-Defamation League to discuss her allegations. Barnette and Levinson said she was offered another job in another part of the campus, but Chandler would not confirm the offer, saying only that future job placement is the subject of ``ongoing discussions.''

``The university has a sizable Jewish student population. We're sensitive to these kinds of issues,'' Chandler said. ``We haven't had these kinds of allegations raised in the past and I think we've done a thorough inquiry that has in large part laid this issue to rest.''

Barnette said she heard a supervisor make several disparaging remarks about two Jewish employees and told her to keep an eye on them because they were ``fat and lazy.''

Barnette, a political science major, said she confronted the supervisor about her comments in early December. Four days after filing a complaint with the university, Barnette's own supervisors fired her on the basis of what they called excessive absenteeism.

``We are concerned about anti-Semitism because the stories that the complainant made were backed up and corroborated by a half-dozen witnesses,'' Levinson said. ``We still think there is a problem there.''

CSUN professor Earl Weiss conducted the university's initial investigation, which concluded there was no discrimination in Barnette's firing. Chandler said that while Weiss' review is done, an investigation into whether the supervisor made anti-Semitic remarks continues.

``That issue is one where's there's conflicting accounts about that and I believe we are going to continue to try to resolve those,'' he said.

Barnette said that during the Monday meeting, university officials set March 15 as a target date for starting her at a new position.

``I'm happy to have my job back,'' Barnette said. ``I just hope I'm treated fairly like everyone else and not branded a troublemaker.''