2008 Woodie Awards
Lawsuit filed against SJSU
Quang Do
Issue date: 3/6/07 Section: News
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A computer consultant at San Jose State University has filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the school, claiming the former dean of the College of Business called him a "chink" and a former supervisor banned him from speaking Chinese while at work.
The school is facing a second, unrelated discrimination lawsuit filed by the former associate director of Academic Services. Both cases will appear in court today. The cases may go to trial in the future.
Computer consultant Xhi-Xue Xu, 60, alleges the supervisors at the College of Business discriminated against him because he doesn't speak English fluently and is too old to do his job effectively.
Xu was hired at SJSU in August 1998 as the director of Computer Services at the College of Business. As director, he oversaw the renovation of two buildings on campus and received "outstanding" employee evaluations, he said in an interview Monday.
In 2003, there was a change in management at the College of Business, and Xu found himself receiving poor employee evaluations from his new supervisors.
In his lawsuit, Xu claims supervisors slowly reassigned Xu's employees to other projects, took away his computer resources and froze the budget that he used to manage. Xu was given unpaid suspensions twice, for 65 days total, and was eventually demoted to the position of information technology consultant.
Xu alleges that former College of Business Dean David Conrath called Xu a "chink" during an argument on July 29, 2004. Conrath retired in 2005 and could not be reached for comment Monday.
Xu also alleges his former supervisor, Timothy Hill, "yelled" at Xu on Sept. 26, 2005 after hearing Xu speaking Mandarin Chinese on the phone. Hill allegedly banned Xu from speaking Chinese at work, according to the lawsuit.
In 2003, Hill required Xu to become fluent in English, according to the lawsuit. Hill also allegedly pressured Xu to retire early, saying he was too old to stay up-to-date on new technology, according to the lawsuit.
The school is facing a second, unrelated discrimination lawsuit filed by the former associate director of Academic Services. Both cases will appear in court today. The cases may go to trial in the future.
Computer consultant Xhi-Xue Xu, 60, alleges the supervisors at the College of Business discriminated against him because he doesn't speak English fluently and is too old to do his job effectively.
Xu was hired at SJSU in August 1998 as the director of Computer Services at the College of Business. As director, he oversaw the renovation of two buildings on campus and received "outstanding" employee evaluations, he said in an interview Monday.
In 2003, there was a change in management at the College of Business, and Xu found himself receiving poor employee evaluations from his new supervisors.
In his lawsuit, Xu claims supervisors slowly reassigned Xu's employees to other projects, took away his computer resources and froze the budget that he used to manage. Xu was given unpaid suspensions twice, for 65 days total, and was eventually demoted to the position of information technology consultant.
Xu alleges that former College of Business Dean David Conrath called Xu a "chink" during an argument on July 29, 2004. Conrath retired in 2005 and could not be reached for comment Monday.
Xu also alleges his former supervisor, Timothy Hill, "yelled" at Xu on Sept. 26, 2005 after hearing Xu speaking Mandarin Chinese on the phone. Hill allegedly banned Xu from speaking Chinese at work, according to the lawsuit.
In 2003, Hill required Xu to become fluent in English, according to the lawsuit. Hill also allegedly pressured Xu to retire early, saying he was too old to stay up-to-date on new technology, according to the lawsuit.
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