Judge Rejects Jones’ Injunction Bid : Reinstatement to Deafness Post Denied

Ray Jones, former director of the National Center on Deafness at California State University, Northridge, on Wednesday lost a court bid to get his job back.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Irving A. Shimer denied a request by Jones for a preliminary injunction that would have reinstated him in his former post while he pursues a $12-million age-discrimination lawsuit against the university.

Jones, 68, has been the sole director of the center since its inception in 1971 and has been affiliated with deaf programs at the university since the early 1960s. He resigned under pressure in October.

In support of the request for a preliminary injunction, Jones’ attorney, Louis J. Henry, submitted university documents that he contended prove Jones was forced out because of his age, rather than incompetence. He said a questionnaire used as the basis for a performance evaluation was worded to encourage critical responses.

But Shimer said he could not “draw these inferences on this showing alone.

“I’m not going to force him on the university,” the judge said.

University officials have said Jones was forced to resign because his administrative abilities had greatly deteriorated. A job evaluation, based on opinions from Jones’ colleagues this year, rated his overall performance as unacceptable.

Because of the court ruling, Jones will begin work next semester as a tenured professor in the Department of Educational Administration, Supervision and Higher Education. The university offered Jones the reassignment after his ouster from the deafness center. In the job as professor, Jones will earn $42,000 for nine months’ work, His previous salary was $50,000 for a full year.

Shimer did enjoin the university from firing Jones in his new role as a professor without a court hearing. This will protect Jones until a trial can be held, the judge said.

Henry said he was not disappointed with the court’s ruling. “The key thing is to keep him in the university until he decides to retire,” he said. “He wants the opportunity to show this was a hatchet job.”

Silvia M. Diaz, the deputy attorney general representing the university, said she was pleased with the decision but was sorry the legal dispute arose.

“The university appreciates Dr. Jones’ service. It does regret what has transpired, that it had to come to this,” she said.