A recently tired staff assistant in Harvard's Office of Fiscal Services has formally charged the University with sex and race discrimination in grievances filed with the University and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EFOC).
Pearl A Croxton, a 10-year veteran in the fiscal office filed the complaints on June 15 four days after she was fired. She said earlier this week that she will pursue this thing as far as it has to go to the Supreme Court if she is not reinstated.
But after meeting with Harvard labor relations attomies and her superiors in Holyoke Center yesterday. Croxton in an interview emotionally denied any anger toward the University and said she would "drop the whole thing immediately" if rehired.
Concedes University Has Case
She did not withdraw her charge that she had been fired because she is Black and a woman, but she said that officials have files which show that she was frequently late to work apparently the official reason for her being let go.
To tell the truth they have the records to prove that I may be wrong that maybe my tardiness is greater than someone else's," Croxton said. "That showed me a different out look," she added.
Harvard officials unanimously refused to comment on the details of the case, but Edward W Powers associate general counsel said attornies will cooperate with an investigation by the Boston chapter of the EFOC.
Federal and NAACP Involvement
The federal agency will try to mediate a settlement of Croxton's grievance but if it finds merit in the complaint and Harvard does not rehire Croxton the EFOC will encourage her to sue the University John Ricket and EFOC caseworker said Wednesday.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has also offered to assist Croxton, a long time member of the civil rights organization.
Government Professor Martin L. Kilson Jr. at0tended yesterday's meeting as an NAACP representative, but he declined to comment on the case other than to say that he would serve as a "friendly counsel" to Croxton.
The discrimination grievance first became public. Croxton said, when she mentioned it during an interview with WNEV television during last week's NAACP conference in Boston.
Separate Harvard Grievance
The separate Harvard grievance could end up before a three member internal mediation board with the power to make a binding decision if no settlement is reached in preliminary meetings, Harvard attornies said.
Powers said that his office will handle both grievance proceedings for the University. He estimated that about 20 such complaints arise each year and said that the number is rising "because employees see that the process can work if there is a problem."
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