The California State University system will be required to establish clear policies and guidelines for how sexual harassment cases are investigated and tracked under a bill Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Monday.
The new law requires the 23-campus network to implement recommendations from a 2023 state audit that examined how officials investigated and tracked complaints at the nation’s largest four-year public university system following outcry over failures to properly handle sexual misconduct cases at several campuses.
Lawmakers requested the audit in 2022 after investigations by the Los Angeles Times revealed inconsistencies and failures in how officials responded to student and faculty complaints of sexual misconduct and retaliation. The audit found a lack of oversight by the chancellor’s office, which oversees the system, and said officials failed to adequately document and investigate allegations of sexual harassment. It also recommended that the chancellor’s office implement the roughly two dozen reforms by July of this year. Lawmakers questioned whether the CSU would make changes without oversight from the Legislature during a hearing last year.
Now the CSU will have to follow through on last year's recommendations, which include developing clear guidelines for investigations, an established policy for tracking complaints and a policy for addressing cases of wrongdoing that do not meet the threshold for sexual harassment.
“CSU shares lawmakers’ interest in ensuring that all students and employees at our 23 universities are protected from discrimination and harassment. It is one of our top priorities,” CSU spokeswoman Amy Bentley-Smith said in a statement.
“We have adopted the recommendations set forth in the state audit and in the report by Title IX legal experts Cozen O’Connor. We are actively working to meet and, where possible, exceed the recommendations and become a national leader in creating a culture of care and trust through increased training and consistent, compassionate practices in handling and resolving complaints.”
House Bill 1790 was introduced by Assemblymen Damon Connolly (D-San Rafael) and Mike Fong (D-Alhambra).
“This legislation will ensure that survivors are heard, that perpetrators are held accountable, and that our educational institutions are held to the highest standards of fairness and support,” Connolly said in a statement. “By strengthening protections against sexual assault and sexual harassment, we can make our California State Universities safer for students and faculty by ensuring that sexual harassment allegations are not unfairly dismissed.”
A 2022 Times investigation found that the CSU paid $600,000 to settle a claim with a Sonoma State The campus president alleged that the campus president had suffered retaliation after she reported sexual harassment allegations against the president's husband. The president's office did not investigate the allegations. Both the president and her husband, who are no longer with the university, previously denied wrongdoing.
Other investigations found flaws in the way the California Maritime Academy handled allegations of sexual harassment against women and transgender students on campus and at sea. The Times reports also found inconsistencies in the way the CSU documented complaints.
The bill follows a law that went into effect this year requiring CSU to publicly disclose the outcome of sexual harassment complaints and investigations.
