2 file suit against Sonoma State University alleging sexual harassment, retaliation

Two new lawsuits alleging sexual harassment and retaliation have been filed against Sonoma State University administrators and faculty members, along with the California State University system and its board of trustees.

The litigation comes just over a year after news broke that the California State University system had paid a senior administrator $600,000 to resolve sexual harassment and retaliation complaints involving then-Sonoma State University President Judy Sakaki and her husband, Patrick McCallum.

In a complaint filed April 28 in Sonoma County Superior Court in Santa Rosa, Clea Felien, an assistant professor with Sonoma State’s Arts & Humanities School, alleges she was subject to ongoing unwanted sexual advances by Nathan Haenlein, a tenured professor in her department who oversaw her hiring and retention.

The suit names Haenlein, the CSU Board of Trustees, Chancellor Jolene Koester, along with SSU Interim President Ming Tung “Mike” Lee, former Art & Art History Department Chair Christine Renaudin, and Hollis Robbins, former Arts & Humanities dean, as defendants.

It also included 10 unnamed defendants, identified only as “Does 1-10.”

“The CSU system obviously has a historical problem with entitled men taking advantage of their female colleagues and subordinates,” said Lawrence King, Felien’s lawyer who is based in Petaluma.

“The bigger problem, however, is the system’s failure to take adequate remedial measures once the female victims complain and instead penalize the victims.”

Felien, who was hired by the Rohnert Park university as a visiting professor in 2017, said the behavior started during her recruitment and continued through 2019. Later, Haenlein allegedly became retaliatory, bullying and harassing Felien.

According to the lawsuit, Felien repeatedly reported Haenlein to her superiors, including to Renaudin and Robbins.

No corrective action was taken, according to the suit, and instead, Felien was discouraged from speaking up and then retaliated against, especially when Felien filed Title IX complaints in 2021 against Haenlein and Renaudin.

Felien is currently finishing her academic year at Sonoma State, and Heanlein is still employed by the university.

Felien ultimately alleges retaliation led to the denial of her tenure in 2022.

Across the country, universities’ poor handling of Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education, has been the subject of much scrutiny and debate in the last few years, including at SSU.

In response to sexual harassment and violence complaints across the CSU system, Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, introduced legislation in February that would subject campus investigations to additional oversight and transparency. The bill has moved through committees and is set for its next hearing May 8.

In a separate lawsuit, filed April 27, Robbins, the former arts and humanities dean who is named as a defendant in Felien’s suit, alleged sexual harassment by McCallum and retaliation by Sakaki.

Robbins’ suit names the university system, its board of trustees and 20 unnamed individuals, identified as “Does 1-20,” as defendants.

According to the lawsuit, Robbins said she was made to feel uncomfortable by McCallum’s “extreme personal attention,” flirtation, comments on her appearance and inappropriate touching on multiple occasions in 2018.

The complaint alleged a Title IX investigation initiated in late 2018 failed to adequately address or respond to her concerns about McCallum’s behavior toward her and others, and Robbins was forced to continue to interact with him.

Moreover, Robbins said she then faced retaliation from Sakaki and others on her team, who undermined her role as dean and efforts to oversee appropriate use of student fees and funds.

Robbins said the retaliation intensified in 2021 when she was asked to recount her experiences reporting McCallum’s behavior to university trustees for use in a mediation of then-Sonoma State University Provost Lisa Vollendorf’s legal claim of retaliation for relaying reports of alleged sexual harassment by McCallum.

Vollendorf’s case led to the $600,000 settlement reported by The Press Democrat in April 2022.

Robbins’ lawsuit said she was instructed by Sakaki not to talk to reporters at that time.

“As strong as I can say it, Judy never retaliated and I never, not even close, sexual(ly) harassed anyone at SSU,” McCallum said in a text to The Press Democrat on Friday afternoon.

Robbins left the university in May 2022 and accepted a position as the dean of the College of Humanities at the University of Utah.

Felien’s suit seeks compensatory damages for lost wages, benefits, damage to her reputation and emotional distress, in addition to injunctions that would require CSU and SSU to review retention and tenure decisions to ensure they are not affected by retaliation, and that Felien be granted tenure.

Robbins is requesting the court provide remedies to eliminate discriminatory and harassing practices, including barring spouses of university presidents from serving as “volunteer ambassadors” — as McCallum did — and creating local boards of trustees to serve each of CSU’s 23 campuses.

“The relief is Dr. Robbins’ focus. In her view, there was a great shortcoming at the Chancellor’s Office, and there seems to be a lack of accountability from that office and the Sonoma administration to listen and correct,” Robbins’ attorney Judy McCann said Friday afternoon.

CSU is conducting a formal internal investigation into Robbins’ case, she said.

“One of the problems is the central control. The Chancellor’s Office is located in Long Beach. A focus on a local board could help and correct problems as they come up. They may even help prevent lawsuits because issues could be addressed in a timely way.”

While McCann and Robbins did not comment on the litigation naming Robbins as a defendant at this time, Robbins said Friday that her own lawsuit is about securing structural changes to the state’s university system.

“Over the past year, I have seen stories of problems at multiple CSU campuses — Cal Maritime, San Diego, Fresno and others — and the recurring theme was that there was nobody local to whom complainants could turn,” Robbins said in a call with The Press Democrat on Friday.

“The more I understand the nature of trusteeship, it becomes clear that local boards may make a difference for future claimants.”

Robbins is also seeking damages, including litigation costs and other “reasonable relief.”

“Sonoma State remains deeply committed to ensuring our campus is free from any form of harassment or retaliation,” SSU spokesperson Robert Eyler said in a statement to The Press Democrat Friday afternoon.

“When the university learns about claims of inappropriate behavior, we take appropriate action to address the issues raised. Sometimes we learn claims are well founded. Other times we learn they are not. Regardless, we take any claim of harassment seriously.”

In the past year, SSU created a Title IX President’s Advisory Committee, Eyler said in the statement, and programming related to sexual harassment prevention and response included more than 50 speakers, workshops and other opportunities.

“As a university community, we continue to learn about how to address discrimination and harassment. Indeed, the law and our community values have evolved, requiring the CSU review its processes and to make changes and adjustments so that we are properly addressing the rights of everyone involved in these cases,” he said in the statement. “We will welcome the opportunity to share how the university constantly strives to address all claims appropriately, including in these cases.”

California State University officials did not provide comment by deadline.

Staff Writer Martin Espinoza contributed to this report.

You can reach staff writer Marisa Endicott at 707-521-5470 or marisa.endicott@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @InYourCornerTPD and Facebook @InYourCornerTPD.