Jury Rejects Bias Claim of Ex-UCI Faculty Member

WESTMINSTER — A jury rejected a claim that UCI discriminated against a former medical faculty member when they fired her, but jurors could not agree on whether the dismissal was in retaliation for an earlier lawsuit.

Dr. Marjorie Mosier, now 60, sued the university after she was denied tenure and lost her job in 1993, claiming she was discriminated against because of her age and gender. She had filed a similar lawsuit in 1986 and settled that case for $235,000.

The Orange County Superior Court jury panel, which included seven women and five men, deliberated more than three days before deciding that Mosier’s age and gender were not a factor in her firing.

Jurors could not decide, however, several crucial questions, including whether tenure was denied to Mosier because of her gender and whether school officials acted out of spite.

“The university is gratified that on those issues that the jury was able to reach verdicts, they were decided in favor of the university,” said Fred Plevin, one of two attorneys representing UCI.

Mosier and her attorney could not be reached for comment after the jury’s verdict late Thursday.

Dr. Mosier, an ophthalmologist, was the first female student in the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA, where she graduated, and joined the UCI faculty in 1976.

In the 1980s, she was denied a tenure position, which went to a male colleague whom Mosier said was less qualified.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission upheld Mosier’s claims in 1986, finding that UCI officials did not equally provide her with the support services needed to do the type of research that would help her get ahead.

Three years later, the University of California settled the case for $235,000, funded her six-month sabbatical and allowed her to reapply for tenure.

Mosier reapplied, and was again rejected, even though she had won approval from 11 of 15 outside reviewers.

UCI authorities who rejected Mosier cited, among other reasons, that her academic publications were not sufficient. But those authorities had also failed to lend her the support services needed to pursue that goal, said Donald Hufstader, one of two attorneys representing Mosier.

“The people that made the decision, essentially saying that her research was inadequate, were biased against her,” Hufstader said. “The bias was really against her and the fact that she had held their feet to the fire.”

The school conducted its own investigation into Mosier’s allegations and concluded her claims were unfounded.

Both sides will return to Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert A. Knox’s courtroom on Aug. 29 to schedule a retrial on the remaining questions.

Each side also has the option to ask the judge to rule on the issues, Plevin said.