A Black man is taking legal action after claiming that he was harassed and racially discriminated against by his supervisor while working at a California university, leading to him experiencing “panic attacks,” heightened fear, anxiety and other health issues, court documents allege.
The San Francisco State University employee, DeMauriae Vaughn, is suing his former supervisor Karen Rubin and the California State University system, according to a lawsuit that was filed in California Superior Court on Tuesday.
Court documents show Vaughn is seeking damages due to the institution’s failure to protect him from a hostile work environment.
“Ms. Rubin’s repeated race-based harassment of Mr. Vaughn and other non-white SFSU employees would be indefensible anywhere, but especially at an educational institution where diversity, inclusivity, and respect… should be upheld,” Rubin’s attorney Arash Sadat told the San Franciso Standard.
Per the lawsuit, Vaughn started working at the SFSU in 2001 and was promoted during his tenure. In 2016, he became an academic adviser at the school’s Advising Resource Center. Three years later, Rubin, identified as a white woman, became the center’s director in August 2019.
That same month one of Vaughn’s employees informed him that Rubin “referred to him as a runaway slave” due to being absent from work, according to his claim.
Vaughn reported Rubin’s remarks to a professor at the school who alleged that Rubin had a portrait of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee displayed in her office, per the lawsuit. In the months afterward, Vaughn continued to address Rubin’s actions and racist comments directed at her employees, the suit says, but she brushed it off.
The lawsuit also alleges that Rubin began telling Vaughn to check in with her upon arrival to work, but his colleagues were not given that requirement. Vaughan repeatedly tried to report his and his colleagues’ experiences and the “runaway slave” comment, but no action was taken, the complaint claims.
The lawsuit says that Rubin is also accused of touting Confederacy images as “leadership” and declined a request to acknowledge the murder of George Floyd —killed by a Minneapolis, Minnesota police officer during an arrest — in the center’s newsletter. Instead, the lawsuit states, “she preferred that the newsletter focuses on ‘puppies and other happy things,’ yet she was able to make space for a ‘fun fact’ and iced tea preferences in relation to the Mason-Dixon line.”
The claim shows the work environment caused Vaughn to have panic attacks. He eventually took a two-week medical leave at the beginning of 2020. Due to a delay with one of his doctor’s notes that requested an additional two weeks off, he “unintentionally” missed some days, and Rubin threatened to terminate him.
This led him to take an extended medical leave, fearing losing his position amid an investigation into the dilemma. When he returned to work remotely in February 2021, Vaughn said that the “harassment” from Rubin immediately continued.
Vaughn eventually reported his experience to the school’s equity programs and compliance office. The school began an investigation then.
The probe, which started in July 2021 and ended months later in May 2022, concluded that Rubin “harassed Mr. Vaughn based on his race,” however, she was still able to hold her position until she resigned months later.
In a statement to The Daily Beast, SFSU called the allegations “unacceptable” and emphasized that it is “committed to fostering a safe and inclusive place to work and study.”
“These allegations were immediately and fully investigated by an outside investigator, pursuant to CSU’s Nondiscrimination policy. The administrator resigned from her position shortly before the investigation was finalized and before any personnel action could be taken,” the statement continued. “The University also took immediate steps to remediate the workplace environment while the investigation was ongoing. Had the administrator not resigned, the university would have terminated her.”
