Students Can Sue State in Harassment Cases, Panel Rules : Education: Agency says that law applying to sex discrimination at businesses also extends to college teachers’ actions.

College students who claim sexual harassment or discrimination by teachers can file complaints for damages with the state, California’s civil rights agency has ruled.

The Fair Employment and Housing Commission ruled Monday that the University of California was covered by the Unruh Act, which forbids discrimination by businesses based on sex, race and other categories.

The commission also ruled 4 to 3, however, that UC Berkeley graduate student Amy L. Forga, who was subjected to a series of sexual comments and an uninvited hug by a teacher, was not sexually harassed. The commission found “a pattern of unwelcome sexual conduct” that was not serious enough to be illegal harassment.

The commission rejected arguments by UC and USC, which was not directly involved in the case, that the state civil rights law did not apply to college students.

Under the ruling, students can file complaints with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing. If the department does not settle or dismiss a complaint, it will represent the student before the commission, which can award damages and issue orders against future harassment. A complainant can also sue in court.

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The commission did not resolve under what circumstances a college would be legally responsible for harassment by a teacher. The Department of Fair Employment and Housing had argued for automatic liability.

If a college was responsible for any harassment by a teacher, “the university would practically have to monitor all faculty-student interactions,” said Melvin Beal, a lawyer with UC’s general counsel’s office. That would constitute “a tremendous interference with the traditional teacher-student relationship.”

He also noted that even before the ruling, students in federally funded colleges could file discrimination complaints with the U.S. Department of Education.

Elizabeth Sandoval, a lawyer with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, said the department was disappointed that Forga had lost her case but pleased with the ruling that “the Unruh Act applies to sexual harassment of students in the university setting.”

Forga’s complaint against John Hayes, a lecturer in Near Eastern Studies, covers a period between May and November, 1989.

Among other things, Forga said Hayes insisted that she translate in class an Arabic word that meant “vagina,” a meaning that was unrelated to the lesson; that he sent her a ceramic object five months later that related to the incident; that he repeatedly complimented her appearance; that he told her about having sex with a girlfriend in his classroom, and that he approached her from behind one day and hugged her just above her breasts before she pushed him away.