A judge has dismissed a UCLA assistant dean as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by a former subordinate who alleges that as a Latina she was forced to resign from her job within the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in 2022 because she could no longer tolerate an atmosphere of discrimination and harassment allegedly fostered by her boss.
Plaintiff Ana Gonzalez’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit consists of nine causes of action against the UC Regents, including racial and gender harassment. Those same two allegations were brought against Assistant Dean Frederick Bush and on Thursday, Judge Rolf M. Treu granted Bush’s motion to toss both claims, removing him from the case.
“Plaintiff fails to show that Bush’s conduct was severe or pervasive, thus plaintiff fails to carry her burden,” the judge wrote in reference to the racial harassment allegation, while adding that the gender discrimination claim failed because Bush did not yell at Gonzalez more than the one time she cited and he also did not lunge at or grab her.
According to Gonzalez’s suit, she was hired in July 2020 by the UC Regents as a director of development at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
“Throughout (Gonzalez’s) employment, Bush regularly displayed sexist, racist and aggressive behavior directly to (her) as well as other female employees,” the suit alleges.
Bush preferred hiring minority and/or disabled female employees because he believed he could control them and they would be unable to advance further within in the organization due to their backgrounds and heritage, the suit states.
Bush often told Gonzalez words to the effect that Black donors “are not worth your time because they have no money,” the suit states.
Bush called a female co-worker an “idiot,” “stupid” and “a disaster,” and also said she “can’t tell the difference between her contacts and her dry cleaner,” the suit states.
Gonzalez was offended by Bush’s alleged statements about others because she is a female and a member of a minority group, the suit states.
In February 2022, Gonzalez filed several internal complaints after Bush allegedly yelled at her for saying during a Zoom meeting that he should not tokenize the work of a Black woman, the suit states. Gonzalez also filed a police report, the suit states.
“Specifically, (Gonzalez) reported that during the attack, she felt that she was in imminent danger and feared for her life,” according to the suit, which further states she went on leave in April 2022 to deal with her psychological stress.
Despite numerous complaints that Gonzalez and several other female colleagues made against Bush, no action was taken to “conduct a bona fide investigation or appropriately discipline Bush,” the suit states.
In addition, Gonzalez’s accommodation request to be exempt from having to work with Bush was denied, according to the suit filed in December 2022.
Gonzalez, who submitted her resignation letter Aug. 30, 2022, stating she could no longer tolerate work conditions at her job, says she has suffered financial losses and emotional distress since being forced to leave her job.
In a sworn declaration, Bush denied that he yelled at or threatened Gonzalez. The UC Regents has filed its own motion to be dismissed from the case in a hearing scheduled May 23.