ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : A Strike Against Sex Discrimination

At long last, Capistrano Unified School District has indicated it is willing to settle a civil rights case involving a highly regarded San Clemente High School English teacher. The U.S. Office of Civil Rights, in a stinging 72-page decision issued last July, determined that the teacher, Ruth Geis, had suffered sex discrimination and harassment over several years. To resolve the issue, the district must compensate Geis and implement a districtwide policy outlawing similar discrimination against other teachers.

The district’s earlier refusal to settle the case had jeopardized $1.5 million in federal funds. Just as important, the district sent a message that any teacher who felt discriminated against--however justified his or her complaint--might undergo similar treatment.

The district has tried to characterize Geis as a complainer who refused to embrace changes dictated by financial constraints and good management practices. However, as the Office of Civil Rights clearly outlined, that just wasn’t so.

Principal John Smart, who authorized Geis’ transfer, has described her as a “skilled, effective, experienced and popular teacher.” Yet, in 1981, the 20-year teaching veteran was transferred against her will from her specialized position as a speech-debate teacher at San Clemente High School to a junior high school English department, which at that time was all female. Four teachers with less seniority were allowed to remain in similar posts to Geis’ at San Clemente.

Geis eventually was sent back to the high school but wasn’t allowed to fully resume her prior speech-debate responsibilities. The Office of Civil Rights said this constituted retaliation for filing the original sex discrimination charges.

Former Supt. Jerome Thornsley was especially taken to task in the Office of Civil Rights’ decision for his refusal to deal with Geis’ complaints, raised after the transfer. It was apparent in Thornsley’s statements to the office and to the press that he became so defensive that he appeared willing to allow the district to suffer the loss of federal funds rather than let Geis “win.” Thornsley recently retired and the new superintendent, James A. Fleming, now wants to settle.

Geis, 64, has been vindicated by the Office of Civil Rights, which rarely enters so forcefully into such cases. Her long struggle should bring new assurances of fair treatment for other teachers.