Sunday, October 07, 2007

Columbia President Bollinger’s "Free Speech” Rights" Challenged In Federal Court

Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2007 05:33:14 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Yulia Ravilovna"
Subject: Bollinger’s “So Called Free Speech" Rights Only For Racists, Anti-Semites & Sexual Harassment Challenged In Federal Court
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CC: Free_Speech_Lawsuit_At_Columbia@Yahoo.com


Press Release/Public Complaint To Government

Columbia President Bollinger’s “So Called Free Speech” Rights Only For Anti-Semites, Racists & Sexual Harassment Challenged In Federal Court

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger’s ambiguous and often conflicting stands on the ROTC and issues of institutionalized racism, anti-Semitism, sexual harassment, and other discrimination is currently being challenged in the United States District Court in Manhattan in multiple lawsuits.

Several months before the anti-American, terrorist-sponsoring Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was allowed to speak at Columbia University, Bollinger had already been charged with illegal discrimination, obstruction of justice, fraud, conspiracy of intimidation and curtailment of Free Speech rights of victims of any illegal discrimination.

In addition to the lawsuits before the Federal Court, related complaints are also pending before the National Labor Relations Board and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

In September 2005, Bollinger had authorized the public firing of Columbia’s well-respected Senior Management Analyst with two masters degrees and over 22 years experience, Mr. Randy S. Raghavendra, and parading him in front of several of his Black co-workers, while banning any “Free Speech” and or any meaningful discussions regarding the proposed anti-discrimination “Minority Employees Association” on behalf of the thousands of Blacks. Jews, and other minorities associated with the Ivy League university. Previously, a highly accomplished Black professor, Dr. Dolores Bacon, was also terminated after she opposed the institutionalized discriminatory practices.

Raghavendra’s $60 Million dollar lawsuit against Bollinger was filed in the heels of numerous other disturbing incidents of uncontrolled racism, anti-Semitism, sexual harassment, and charges of Free Speech abuses under his administration.

Under Bollinger’s watch, public suggestions such as “Black People Were Invented For Cheap (Slave) Labor” were openly published in campus newspapers. In an other employment discrimination lawsuit before the Federal Court, a Black employee, Mr. James E. Lastra, described how his White Supervisor would openly make comments such as “..It is a Scientific Fact That Blacks Have Smaller Brains, And Whites Are Meant To Rule Over Blacks” and that “.. I Hope More Jewish Babies Get Blown Up”, after reading a related newspaper article. In describing the institutionalized racial discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit filed by two other Black employees, Mr. Gregory Higgs and Ms. Florence Anhor, a campus publication described the “Plantation Mentality” and the slave-like treatment of Blacks and other minorities in the Columbia University Security department.

Mr. Higgs and Ms. Anhor described how the most offensive and racist posters and language including such phrases as “Niggers” and “All You People Ever Do Is Complain …., Like That A--hole Al Sharpton!”, and the most humiliating sexist comments such as “God Gave Black Women Big Booty’s So That We Can F--k Them In Their A--es”, "The Darker The Berry, The Sweeter The Juice", and "You're Supposed To F--k Them, Not Marry Them! It's Alright To F--k Them But Not To Bring Them Home!" have been commonly and repeately used by several Columbia supervisors to routinely harass, intimidate, and subjugate the Blacks and other minorities.

The racially discriminating and or sexually harassing White supervisors at Columbia are almost never disciplined or punished but any Black and other minority employees who complain are almost immediately disciplined and terminated.

Raghavendra commented “Mr. Bollinger seems to believe in only the maximum ‘Hate Speech’ rights or the Free Speech rights of only the worst racists, anti-Semites, and homophobes such as the worst anti-American terrorist (Iranian President) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but he does want the ROTC and or even the victims of any blatant racism, anti-Semitism, and or sexual harassment to speak out or even have the minimum Free Speech rights to defend themselves against illegal discrimination and or harassment at the prestigious Columbia University.”

After forcing him out of Columbia University, in March 2006, Bollinger had also threatened Raghavendra with a (apparently frivolous) “defamation lawsuit” to intimidate him from speaking out and or placing public notices in local newspapers which could encourage other victims of racial discrimination, anti-Semitism, and or other harassment to speak out and or join in a potential second class action against the Bollinger Administration.

The first racial discrimination class action lawsuit, filed by none other than Ms. Zenobia White-Farrell (the recent Head or Guardian of Columbia’s own office of Equal Opportunity) herself, was prematurely withdrawn in 2003 after Bollinger’s administration intimidated White-Farrell by counter-suing her and by claiming that even the pattern of racial discrimination statistics (techniques) quoted in her federal court papers were confidential and proprietary to Columbia University.

Raghavendra has also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction and restraining order against Bollinger to allow the Blacks, Jews, and other minorities to peacefully organize a “Minority Employees Association” and exercise their constitutionally-guaranteed Free Speech rights against any institutionalized discrimination, anti-Semitism, and other harassment at Columbia University.

Despite his repeated requests, Bollinger has bluntly refused to reinstate or even re-hire Raghavendra to even the lowest-level clerical position and or even as the “President’s house-attendant.” Raghavendra’s reinstatement could enable him to organize the Blacks, Jews, and other minorities to stand up for their equal opportunity and civil rights at Columbia University. The Federal Court is expected to rule on this potentially precedent-setting motion with in the next few weeks.

Raghavendra’s 97-page Federal Court complaint, with over 15 exhibits, charges Bollinger of being opportunistic and engaging in blatant hypocrisy, double-talking, egregious racial double standards, curtailment of Free Speech., and even masterminding of a notorious “Speech Code” at the University of Michigan that was declared unconstitutional by Judge Avern Cohn of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

The (Bollinger’s) “Speech Code” was enforced while the infamous “Trial By Fire” criminal investigation of that university’s law school was underway. Raghavendra noted “American people want truthful ‘Equal Opportunity’ for all and not some self-promoting, fake, and deceptive Affirmative Action programs and other double-talk as smoke and mirrors that is designed only to help Bollinger’s personal career, and or to defraud the government of hundreds of millions of dollars.”

In the 1980s, when Bollinger was the (so-called) “Free Speech” scholar at the University of Michigan, an on-campus anti-discrimination group called the “United Coalition Against Racism” had threatened a class action lawsuit against that university for uncontrolled racial discrimination, while government officials also threatened to withhold university funding.

Even though Bollinger seems to take credit for the University of Michigan’s Affirmative Action case, he continued to face other charges of racial insensitivity and anti-Semitism even after he was made that university’s president and before coming to Columbia University.

In September 2005, Raghavendra had sought the Bollinger Administration’s permission to peacefully organize a “Racial Equality Struggles for Columbia University Employees (RESCUE)” Fund/ Association that would be similar to the minority employees organizations at other prestigious institutions including those at Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, New York University, Johns Hopkins, College of William & Mary, and the University of Michigan. He had proposed the RESCUE Fund to give the minorities at Columbia a voice and oppose the repeated incidents of blatant racism, anti-Semitism, sexual harassment, and other discrimination since Bollinger took office in October 2002. The soft-spoken 46-years old was summarily fired, without any questions asked, just a week before the scheduled inauguration of the proposed anti-discrimination RESCUE Fund.

Raghavendra is currently the Chairperson of an ad hoc committee that was formed to assert the rights of the Blacks, Jews, and other minorities to legally establish the proposed Minority Employees Association at Columbia University. He said “Because Mr. Bollinger has repeatedly failed to protect the dignity and equal opportunity of the Blacks, Jews, and other minorities at Columbia University, the proposed RESCUE Fund may be their only hope.”

Based on his own first-hand experiences of egregious discrimination and harassment under Bollinger, the still unemployed Raghavendra is very determined and is in the process of establishing a not-for-profit civil rights organization that could assist potentially millions of hard-working people across America, with little or no resources, to peacefully and fearlessly unite in local groups and stand up against powerful and prestigious multi-billion dollar organizations to bring about class action lawsuits and oppose any institutionalized discrimination and harassment based on their race, religion, sex, age, disability, color, national-origin, and or sexual orientation. He said that “any punitive damages award against Bollinger” could help towards establishing and publicizing his not-for-profit anti-discrimination organization on behalf of the helpless Americans who have suffered and or continue to suffer illegal discrimination and harassment at their workplace.

*** *** ***

Contact For Copies of The 3 Lawsuits & For Assistance:
Racial Equality Struggles For Columbia University Employees (RESCUE)
Ad hoc Committee,P.O. Box 7066, Hicksville, NY 11802-7066
Phone: (646) 229-9971
E-Mail: Free_Speech_Lawsuit_At_Columbia@Yahoo.Com

(Mr. Randy S. Raghavendra, M.Engg., M.B.A., Chairperson)
Mr. Louis D. Stober, Esq.
Ms. Sheila S. Hatami, Esq.
Law Offices of Louis D. Stober, LLC.
Phone: (516) 742-6546

Representing Columbia University:

Ms. Laura Barbieri, Attorney
Schoeman Updike and Kaufman,LLC
E-mail: ldbarbieri@schoeman.com
Phone: (212) 661-5030

Mr. Lee C. Bollinger,
President, Columbia University
E-mail: Bollinger@Columbia.edu
Phone: (212) 854-9970

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