A Madera Community College administrator is suing State Center Community College District, the district’s faculty union and its president, and an anonymous coalition that calls itself the SCCCD Insiders on allegations of creating a hostile work environment, harassment, retaliation, failure to prevent harassment and discrimination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and intentional interference with prospective economic relations.

Dr. Marie Harris, vice president of learning and student success, alleges in her suit that she was targeted by the State Center Federation of Teachers Local 1533 and SCFT President Keith Ford, as well as the SCCCD Insiders, and that State Center officials did not shield her from being publicly identified in racist comments in a faculty survey nor investigate her allegation that Ford had threatened her when she recommended no tenure for a union member.

Harris’ suit alleges that State Center employees reached out to employees at San Jose Community College in an attempt to torpedo her application for that college’s presidency and were jubilant that she has been unable to find new employment.

The lawsuit, filed Dec. 31 in Fresno County Superior Court, does not yet include damages sought. A case management conference is scheduled for April 29.

Order to Protect Records Sought

Harris’ attorney Miiko Anderson filed an ex parte application earlier this month seeking to have the court issue preservation orders and subpoenas to Meta, Facebook, Google, and Substack to keep emails and online postings, including the Substack series by SCCCD Insiders, from being deleted or altered.

Those records could help identify the person or persons behind SCCCD Insiders, who self-identify as “a coalition of faculty, classified professionals, administrators, and concerned community members” and who have published a series of blogs since 2024 critical of State Center Chancellor Carole Goldsmith and other State Center employees, including Harris.

Judge Jon Skiles denied the application, saying the parties needed to have notice of the request to expedite discovery of records, Anderson said Friday.

For now, the people behind SCCCD Insiders are identified as “Does” defendants.

The SCCCD Insiders declined to comment on the suit but did weigh in on the judge’s decision regarding the ex parte application.

“Because this is pending litigation, we’re not going to offer extensive comments. We will respond to Dr. Harris’s allegations through counsel and in the proper forum,” SCCCD Insiders said in an email response. “What we can confirm on the record is that the court denied the ex parte motion seeking expedited discovery and related preservation/subpoena relief aimed at exposing a whistleblowing group and violating the First Amendment rights to free press by a public official.”

State Center spokeswoman Jill Wagner issued a no-comment via email.

“As the district is a party to this lawsuit, we are unable to comment,” Wagner said.

Ford provided this comment: “All of our dealings with Dr. Harris have been and continue to be both fully legal and in full support of our faculty’s rights.”

Suit Says Harris Was Racially Attacked in Survey

Harris, who is Black and Hispanic, alleges in her suit that the union conducted a “leadership survey” in March 2024 for all State Center employees, and the responses included comments about Harris such as “Total waste! Gets credit only for being a colored person” and “My VP has an obvious agenda: promote uber-racism via DEI, promote herself by being a mouthpiece for her masters …”

Such comments are demeaning as well as racist, the lawsuit says.

The survey, with minor redactions but with “racially hostile, religiously offensive, and demeaning statements targeting Plaintiff,” was then disseminated through State Center’s email system. High-ranking State Center officials had full knowledge of the survey’s content but failed to intervene, although it had done so on prior occasions, the suit alleges.

The attacks increased after Harris issued a public statement saying that after she was racially attacked in the leadership survey, she was disturbed when two administrators of color were the targets of no-confidence votes by the Madera Faculty Senate.

Harris alleges that the district further failed to support her when she reported a threatening phone call from Ford urging her to reconsider her decision not to recommend tenure for a faculty member and warning that she would face a no-confidence vote and that her future career advancement could be impeded, citing a possible Reedley College presidency opening for which her tenure decision might “ruin her chances.”

When Harris reported the conversation to Julianna Mosier, vice chancellor of human resources, Mosier reportedly told her that because she was management, no actions would be taken.

Harris’ suit contends that SCCCD Insiders reached out to more than 100 employees of the San Jose Evergreen Community College District when she was one of four candidates for the San Jose City College presidency. The emails included hyperlinks to SCCCD blog posts targeting her and urged the recipients to reject her candidacy.

The lawsuit notes the support by State Center faculty union officials for the SCCCD Insiders blog, including likes on the Substack site as well as promoting the blog through social media links such as Facebook.

Harris’ Lawsuit