A former professor who was suing the University of La Verne has settled the lawsuit in which she alleged she was forced to resign in 2022 due to a backlash from the school’s then-president after the plaintiff complained of disparate pay when compared to her male colleagues.
Kristan Venegas’ Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit allegations included retaliation, harassment and discrimination. On Monday, Venegas’ attorneys asked Judge Lia Martin to dismiss the plaintiff’s case in the wake of a Sept. 5 settlement. No terms were divulged.
In their previous court papers, ULV attorneys denied Venegas’ allegations and cited multiple defenses, including violation of the statute of limitations, that the plaintiff’s claims belonged in the workers’ compensation arena and that her requested accommodations would have imposed an undue hardship on the university.
Venegas previously served as a professor of clinical education and a research associate in the Pullias Center for Higher Education in USC’s Rossier School of Education. Venegas also has been recognized by USC as a Remarkable Woman of the Year and an Emerging Leader by the National Academic Advising Association.
Venegas worked for ULV as a professor and associate dean and became an associate provost in July 2021. The next month she complained to the administration that she was paid less than both the male associate deans and the prior male associate provost, according to the suit.
In response, then-ULV President Devorah Lieberman began retaliating against Venegas as her classes were taken away, her requests for equal pay were denied and she was micro-managed, the suit filed in July 2023 stated. Venegas also was required to attend monthly meetings with Lieberman, began receiving poor performance reviews, was demoted and also the subject of false rumors by Lieberman that the plaintiff was suffering from mental health issues, the suit alleged.
Lieberman disparaged Venegas’ work, tried to replace the plaintiff with two Caucasian males and intentionally mispronounced Venegas’ last name, all of which prompted the plaintiff to file a complaint against Lieberman, the suit stated.
Venegas was interviewed as part of an investigation against Lieberman in response to several employee complaints regarding the president’s alleged bullying, toxic work culture, retaliation and unlawful discrimination, and Lieberman confronted the plaintiff about the probe in March 2022, the suit stated.
“Plaintiff began experiencing isolation and additional retaliation by Dr. Lieberman’s friends and supporters,” the suit stated.
Venegas’ teaching duties were removed in May 2022, and two months later she requested a medical leave to deal with her workplace emotional distress, the suit stated.
Venegas was removed as supervisor of the Randall Lewis Center for Well-Being and Research and in October told the ULV administration that she was “being forced to resign,” the suit stated. .
Lieberman retired the same month after 12 years as ULV president.