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Professor slams his UCLA suspension as a ‘publicity stunt’ to distract from the school's ‘horrible reputation for racism’ after he refused to grade black students more leniently

  A longtime accounting professor at the University of  California  in  Los Angeles  who was allegedly disciplined for refusing to grade bla...

 A longtime accounting professor at the University of California in Los Angeles who was allegedly disciplined for refusing to grade black students more leniently has accused the university of using his suspension as a 'publicity stunt'.

Gordon Klein — who filed a lawsuit against UCLA last week — appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight and slammed the university for attempting to depict him as a racist in, what he says, is an attempt to improve their image.

'They decided they've got a horrible reputation for racism, bias, and instability within the school of management where I teach, and so they decided that they'd make an example out of me to rehabilitate their own reputation as a publicity stunt, and that's all it was,' he said during his Monday evening interview.

Gordon Klein (right), a longtime accounting professor who filed a lawsuit against UCLA last week, was interviewed by Tucker Carlson (left) on Monday and slammed the university for attempting to depict him as a racist in what he calls an attempt to improve their image

Gordon Klein (right), a longtime accounting professor who filed a lawsuit against UCLA last week, was interviewed by Tucker Carlson (left) on Monday and slammed the university for attempting to depict him as a racist in what he calls an attempt to improve their image

Klein argued that UCLA should 'be shaking in its boots right now' because his case has a '100 percent change of prevailing' if he gets a fair trial. 

He also called the situation ironic, pointing out that his role at the university included teaching ethics to students.

'The irony is they hired me to teach law and ethics to students and guess what? I'm now going to teach them a lesson in law and ethics,' Klein shared. 

Klein, who has taught at UCLA for 40 years, has sued the Anderson School of Management where he teaches

Klein, who has taught at UCLA for 40 years, has sued the Anderson School of Management where he teaches

Klein, who has taught at UCLA's Anderson School of Management for 40 years, says problems arose just eight days after George Floyd's death. He claims a student requested that he grade black students 'more leniently' because of they were traumatized by the situation.

He refused and now alleges that the university punished him for not discriminating when grading coursework. 

During his interview Monday night, Klein told Carlson that leniency request not only violated UCLA rules, but was also left him 'grotesquely offended'.

'It's in the rulebook, grade people based on merit, it's in the rulebook, never discriminate. I've lived my life never discriminating, I was grotesquely offended by the condescending nature of what this student said to me,' Klein explained.

The professor claims he 'posed questions to the student' and got him to 'rethink his position.' 

'The student was content with it,' Klein explained.

'He got back to studying, got a grade A in my class, and I thought the thing was over but the university decided they wanted to spot a racist or at least an alleged racist.'  

He continued: 'I know it's bizarre. You must have to — you almost have to say it several times. They called me a racist because I quoted martin Luther king in support of a color-blind society.' 

UCLA did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.

The UCLA Anderson School of Management allegedly suspended Klein in June 2020 for three weeks after he refused to mark students' work based on the color of their skin

The UCLA Anderson School of Management allegedly suspended Klein in June 2020 for three weeks after he refused to mark students' work based on the color of their skin

Klein was suspended briefly by UCLA in the summer of 2020, amid a row about trauma caused by the George Floyd protests.    

He is suing for unspecified damages 'not only to redress the wrongful conduct he has endured, but also to protect academic freedom.'

Klein alleged in the court documents that he 'suffered severe emotional distress, trauma, and physical ailments for which he has been treated by his primary care physician, a gastrointestinal physician, and a psychiatrist.'

The documents state: 'Plaintiff also has suffered substantial loss of income,' and explained that while Klein, who is tenured, was reinstated to his job, he has lost out on corporate work and expert witness which comprised the majority of his income. 

'Since approximately 2008, Plaintiff has maintained a highly successful private consulting practice as an expert witness ('Expert Witness Practice'),' court papers said. 'The Expert Witness Practice – of which Defendants were well aware at the time of their actions and the events alleged herein – has served as Plaintiff's principal source of income and is conducted independently from his University commitments.'

He said that his work as a consultant dropped dramatically following the UCLA disagreement, and he was seeking financial redress.

Klein's problems began when a student wrote to him on June 2, 2020 - eight days after George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis - asking for him to mark black students' work more leniently, because the black students were traumatized by Floyd's murder.

Klein, writing on Bari Weiss' Substack, said he found the request 'deeply patronizing and offensive to the same black students he claimed to care so much about.'


He replied to the student: 'Are there any students that may be of mixed parentage, such as half black half-Asian? What do you suggest I do with respect to them? A full concession or just half? 

'Also, do you have any idea if any students are from Minneapolis? I assume that they are probably especially devastated as well. I am thinking that a white student from there might possibly be even more devastated by this, especially because some might think that they're racist even if they are not.' 

He concluded that he would not mark students' work differently based on the color of their skin. 

'I have a law degree, and I’m pretty sure the university’s EDI agenda violates Proposition 209, the California Constitution’s prohibition against race-based preferences in public education,' he wrote. 

'Voters enacted this decades ago and reaffirmed it, last year, at the ballot box. 

'So, I opted to follow the state Constitution and my conscience.' 

George Floyd protests are pictured in Los Angeles on June 2, 2020, after the May 25 murder of the Minnesota man. A student at UCLA Anderson said that black students had been traumatized by the events and needed more lenient marking

George Floyd protests are pictured in Los Angeles on June 2, 2020, after the May 25 murder of the Minnesota man. A student at UCLA Anderson said that black students had been traumatized by the events and needed more lenient marking

Klein's email went viral, and he was attacked on social media - receiving vile insults and death threats, and needing police protection. 

Klein explained: 'Anderson administrators were rattled, and for good reason. But not because of the fact that my life was now being threatened. 

'The problem was Anderson's reputation. It hadn't granted an African-American professor tenure in decades. It had but a handful of tenured Latino professors. 

Antonio Bernardo, the dean of the UCLA Anderson School of Management, was sued by Klein last week

Antonio Bernardo, the dean of the UCLA Anderson School of Management, was sued by Klein last week

'Black students made up about two percent of the student body. And men outnumbered women roughly two-to-one, leading many students to call Anderson the MANderson School of MANagement.' 

He wrote that Antonio Bernardo, the dean of UCLA Anderson, decided that 'a well-timed publicity stunt might distract attention away from the school’s reputation as an inhospitable place for persons of color' and suspended Klein - sparking anger on campus, and both petitions for his firing and for him to be reinstated.

On June 3, Anderson tweeted: 'Respect and equality for all are core principles at UCLA Anderson. It is deeply disturbing to learn of this email, which we are investigating. 

'We apologize to the student who received it and to all those who have been as upset and offended by it as we are ourselves.'  

Klein said he was left 'confused and hurt' - despite being reinstated after less than three weeks. 

On the Substack he wrote that he was taking legal action to both win damages and make a point about academic freedom.

'No employee should ever cower in fear of his employer’s power to silence legitimate points of view, and no society should tolerate government-sponsored autocrats violating constitutional mandates,' he said. 

Bill Kisliuk, UCLA spokesperson said: 'We don’t comment on personnel litigation matters, but we are looking forward to having the facts fully addressed through the litigation process.' 

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