House committee OKs whistleblower measure

The bill, which easily passed a House committee, would allow university employees to take their grievances outside the university system to an independent state-level personnel board - something prohibited under current statutes.

The complainants ranged from faculty members to graduate teaching assistants, and testified that the existing employee grievance system is inadequate. Each speaker cited alleged reprisals that occurred after they reported improprieties to university administrators.

"It will give us an outlet for due process so our civil rights will not be violated," said bill proponent Carol Bernstein, a University of Arizona microbiology and immunology professor who heads the Arizona chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

"They (university administrators) have refused to follow their own guidelines," Bernstein said in supporting the measure, which passed the House Government Reform and States Rights committee 8-1, with two abstentions.

University representatives, however, countered the employees' testimony and said the current system works.

"There is sort of a misnomer here that the university is exempt from whistleblower laws," UA lobbyist Greg Fahey told committee members. "We do have a comprehensive system."

He later said, "What we have here are a lot of people who are dissatisfied and are trying to draw attention from the Legislature."

Arizona State University administrator Alan Price said the complainants were the exception, not the rule, adding that miscommunication may be at the heart of the problem.

"This may not be a system broken, but a system not known by the people who use it," said Price, ASU's vice president for institutional advancement.

Some committee members weren't buying the university line.

"What we're trying to get is an impartial system for these people to go to," said Rep. Marilyn Jarrett, R-Mesa, sponsor of HB 2182. "From what we're hearing, the system is not working."

Jarrett attended a legislative panel discussion at the UA last October devoted to hearing employee grievances. About a dozen UA employees spoke at the meeting, which also included Rep. Linda Gray, R-Phoenix, Sally Ann Gonzales, D-South Tucson and Marion Pickens, D-Tucson.

Speaking for the employees, Tucson attorney Don Awerkamp took issue with the finality of a university president's decision.

"There is no right of appeal," said Awerkamp, who represents some UA employees in the whistleblower effort. "When you get to the final stage, there is total discretion on the part of the university."

Employee grievance systems differ among the three schools, but all involve existing administrative power structures and peer review committees.

"There are procedures in place not just for faculty, but for appointed personnel and classified staff," Fahey said.

Both Awerkamp and Fahey each cited different Arizona Supreme and appellate court cases they claimed supported their respective positions.

The sole UA employee to testify was Susana de la Peö#241;a, an English graduate teaching assistant of Mexican-American descent who claims she suffered race discrimination in a class she attended.

Also present was Senzil Nawid, a Near Eastern studies professor who alleges university discrimination and later retaliation based on her national origin - Afghan.

Martin Tyler, an entomology research professor, was also on hand. He claims he was denied tenure unfairly because he wrote a 1995 letter to the Arizona Daily Wildcat questioning the Mount Graham telescope project.

According to ASU professor Jared Sakren, "The university would have you believe an internal grievance system works."

Sakren, a theater professor, claims mistreatment at the hands of ASU administrators.

"This is the fox guarding the hen house," he added.

The bill will go to the House Rules committee for review, and pending passage, will go before the House for a full vote.