By: Bria Overs
Editor-in-Chief
Update (9/13): The California Faculty Association responds to the claims against Thomas A. Parham. Read the update here.
On Friday morning, the Los Angeles Times published an article based on a campus review at the University of California, Irvine that alleges current California State University, Dominguez Hills’ president Thomas A. Parham paid several women less than their male counterparts for comparable work while he was vice chancellor at UCI.
Parham, who worked at UCI until June of this year and became university president on July 16 after president Willie J. Hagan retired, denied the allegations in a CSUDH-wide email distributed on Friday.
“It is my understanding that the report on pay equity claims, referenced in the Los Angeles Times article, is still under review at UCI. However, what I will say is this: I have a long-established track record of support for gender equity. I have been an activist my whole life, fighting for equal rights and justice and advocating for equality and non-discrimination on the basis of race, gender, national origin, religion, sex, and gender identity. As a senior executive in a complex organization, I acted in alignment with these values and established principles for fairness and equity as they related to workloads, compensation levels, and extracurricular activities. I am surprised by the claims in this report, since I always acted in consultation with the human resources department on issues of salary and pay equity, and I am confident I did not act in a discriminatory manner.”
According to the article, the UCI campus review that was completed on June 21 found that Parham did not give equal pay to women in four different cases. Some of the cases are in regards to an annual black leadership gala.
The review stated that “The end result of the actions was a discrepancy in pay between male and female employees who did the same work for planning the Gala.”
The review also claimed that “Based on the information gathered during the investigation, there is significant concern from [the equal opportunity office] that there may be a disparate impact on female employees’ pay in Student Affairs.”
The cases involved Tamara Austin, director of UCI’s Women’s Hub, Jade Agua, former director of UCI’s Cross-Cultural Center, an unnamed assistant vice chancellor for educational partnerships at UCI and an unnamed person from UCI’s university registrar.
In an interview, Austin said, “I don’t believe women are being paid fairly on campus. I want to put them on notice that this just won’t go.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, Austin and some other complainants are asking for back pay and a full pay equity review for all staff members at UCI.
UPDATE:
On Tuesday, the California Faculty Association sent out an email to CSUDH faculty and staff in response to President Parham’s email. The message stated that they are “deeply concerned with the results of the review.”
According to the message, the CFA is taking the investigation seriously and is demanding transparency and that all findings be immediately available.
