Former Columbia College president sues over firing, alleges discrimination

The abrupt firing in February 2013 of former Columbia College President Dennis Gervin brought forth an outpouring of community support at a campus forum and in letters to the editor, many voicing outrage at Yosemite Community College District leaders who refused to tell them the reasons for the termination.

District officials and board members remain legally barred from discussing personnel reviews or giving their reasons for the firing, done under the “for cause” clause of Gervin’s three-year contract. But that silence may end if the lawsuit filed by Gervin, 54, now a Modesto Junior College biology professor, proceeds to trial.

Gervin’s lawyer, Mina Ramirez, said the lawsuit is still in the early stages, with several motions moving forward. Its next court date, a case management conference, was scheduled for Monday.

The lawsuit, filed Feb. 19, 2014, seeks unspecified damages on 16 counts, including allegations of gender harassment by Chancellor Joan Smith, defamation by YCCD board member Lynn Martin, and loss of consortium. The latter claim alleges the firing has caused problems in Gervin’s marriage.

“As a direct and proximate result of defendants’ conduct, plaintiff Kendall Gervin (Gervin’s wife) has had to assume more household duties and has suffered a loss of her husband’s physical and emotional companionship,” the complaint says, adding that her loss is permanent.

The charge of defamation leveled against Martin stems from comments made to the The (Sonora) Union Democrat after his firing. In the article, Martin is quoted as saying the information the board was given convinced it that firing Gervin was the right thing to do and, “If I could tell you what I can’t tell you, you would support us.”

The complaint seeks general and special damages for loss of his higher president’s salary and benefits, back pay, future pay, loss of retirement income and employability; for civil penalties, plus interest; and for punitive and exemplary damages.

Gervin made $218,049 in 2013, even with his midyear change to teaching, according to YCCD documents filed with the IRS. Gervin’s pay eclipsed the full-year presidential salary of Modesto Junior College leader Jill Stearns, who made $191,945 in 2013. According to the faculty salary schedule, a professor with a doctorate can earn up to $99,494.

A large portion of the complaint, however, focuses on Gervin’s assertions of gender harassment, gender discrimination and creation of a hostile work environment against Smith, who hired him as president in 2011.

In the second year of his presidency, the complaint says, Smith refused repeated requests for consultation and guidance, telling him to “act like a president.” The lawsuit calls that phrase “one which can reasonably be interpreted as being directed to his gender.”

The lawsuit says Smith showed favoritism to Gervin’s female colleagues, including forming a mentoring network in 2012 that the complaint describes as solely for female administrators.

“If you just look at the people who surround her,” Ramirez said, listing the MJC president and Gervin’s successor at Columbia, Angela Fairchilds, as well as the majority of the district Cabinet, “we think there’s been a systematic effort to rebuild and replace with women.”

The YCCD does stand out for its female leadership in a male-dominated profession. A 2012 study by the American Council on Education found only 26 percent of college presidents were women.

While Smith said she could not comment on the lawsuit, she did answer by email The Modesto Bee’s questions about the mentoring group.

“There are both formal and informal mentoring that occurs at the colleges and within the district, and I have led many of these groups – no group was ever specified as ‘women only,’” Smith said.

A leadership academy started in 2013-14 and led by district Cabinet officials worked with about 30 aspiring academic leaders of both sexes, she said. “This year, the academy had about 17-20 participants, again, both sexes. There is nothing, nor has there ever been any women exclusive mentoring or leadership academy since I have been chancellor at the YCCD,” she said.

The lawsuit says that Gervin was not given mentorship by Smith and that in 2012 she gave him a performance improvement plan, which it declines to describe, citing privacy concerns. But Ramirez said he earned high marks in an earlier assessment.

“I can tell you that his performance review the year before his termination was good,” she said, adding there was no question of any misdeeds or misconduct. “That’s what people always assume, that there must have been something like that,” Ramirez said.

“He is at MJC working as a professor of biology and getting great reviews from the students,” she said. “He’s a great guy, a really great guy, who’s devoted all these years at the college. Everyone was in shock when he was terminated.”

This story was originally published April 25, 2015 at 7:53 PM with the headline "Former Columbia College president sues over firing, alleges discrimination."