Suit Against UCLA Cites Affirmative Action
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A Latino student has sued UCLA, alleging that he was rejected for a tutoring job because he expressed ambivalence about affirmative action.
In the suit, filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, Alvaro Cardona says that an administrator of UCLA’s Academic Advancement Program refused to hire him after he expressed “mixed feelings” about programs designed to boost performance of black and Latino students. The program offers support services for minority and low-income students.
The administrator, Cardona alleged, told him that “50% of a tutor’s job was to ‘validate’ students’ feelings about institutionalized racism and discrimination.” After he disagreed, Cardona said, the administrator refused to hire him, urging him to reapply for the job after he learned what UCLA was “really like.”
Cardona, 30, a Guatemalan immigrant, is seeking to have the tutoring program’s hiring policies declared illegal and to be compensated for having been hired in a lower-paying job.
UCLA officials dispute Cardona’s claim, saying no applicant has ever been denied a job because of his or her views about affirmative action.
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