mice Assembly a cennett] ‘SACRAMENTO, CA 942190067 VICE CHAIR: PUBLIC SAFETY isl sissot ep ce : TaansPorraton e&tita)stoater California Legislature cence Diemer ornce Meese bascuurTes no con conan ret are Suvcct one Cena? aimee boar = bthocmau sna Comoe So “ee MELISSA A. MELENDEZ ASSEMOLY WOMAN SITY. SEVENTH DISTEICT March 10, 2016 Dr. Nicholas B. Dirks Chancellor University of California, Berkeley 200 California Hall, #1500 Berkeley, CA 94720-1500 Dear Chancellor Dirks; We were very troubled to lear the Dean of the Berkeley Law School. Sujit Choudhry, was permitted to take a leave of absence afier acknowledging he committed acts of sexual harassment on his former executive assistant, rather than being terminated by the University. As we write to yo reports of his acti troubling. |, we were pleased to see Mr. Choudhry resigned amid the recent public ns. However, the University’s handling of Mr. Choudhry’s transgressions is We were most disturbed to read in media accounts of the pending lawsuit that a University ut decided not to terminate Mr. Choudhry because “it would ruin the dean’s career (and) destroy his future chances for higher appointment.” This was after concluding in July 2015 that Choudhry had violated University policy on sexual harassment and violence. ‘This response is most disappointing if true. Employees and students alike must have confidence that allegations of sexual harassment and violence will be taken seriously by the University. Those who have been found to violate policy must never be treated with kid gloves, especially to shield them from any negative repercussions it may have on their carcer. ‘As two women who have spent years battling institutional hurdles as we've succeeded in our respective careers, we have both had our own experiences similar to this case. As elected officials in the California Legislature, we believe that this type of harassment cannot be tolerated in any institution, particularly an institution of higher education, In our view, Mr. Choudhry should have been terminated immediately once the University concluded he was culpable of the allegations brought against him. Stepping down to a faculty position and getting a pay cut is not sulicient given the severity of the allegations in this case. UC Berkeley needs to take more action to show that these harassment || Printed on Recycled Paperclaims cannot be tolerated in an institution that oversees thousands of female students and employees. This is not the first time that the UC Berkeley has dealt with a sexual harassment case from a former dean, By not addressing this serious offense properly, we believe UC Berkeley is sending the wrong message to their female faculty, staff, and students, All students and employees should feel safe while they are on campus. How can they when the University seemingly does not take a hard stance against serious harassment, as evidenced by this case? Going forward, sexual harassment into harm’s way our view, the best been to terminat urge UC Berkeley to lead by example and enforce a zero tolerance policy for dd sexual assault. To knowingly continue to put our young women directly allowing his continued employment is to be complicit in the harassment. In ay for the University to show its seriousness about these issues would have Mr. Choudhry. Sincerely, MELISSA A. MBI sLENDEZ LORENA S. GONZALEZ Assemblywoman, 67" District Assemblywoman, 80" District