Kristie Koski’s UC Davis Lawsuits: Rulings and Tenure Granted

The Kristie Koski UC Davis lawsuit produced a California state court ruling that Chancellor Gary May exceeded his authority when he cut her pay and censured her, ordered the university to refund the deducted salary and cover her legal fees, and set the stage for UC Davis to grant her tenure in December 2023. A second suit alleging discrimination and retaliation against the Regents, former chemistry chair Jared Shaw, and other officials remains active.¹

What Started the Dispute

Koski, a physical chemist hired by UC Davis in July 2016, submitted her tenure application on August 7, 2019. A week earlier, on July 31, a graduate student in her lab had filed a complaint against her accusing her of “bullying and intimidation.” On August 1, unaware of that filing, Koski reported concerns to department chair Jared Shaw about the same student’s conduct toward undergraduates over the previous two months, including sexually explicit jokes, a graphic drawing in a lab notebook, and watching sexually suggestive anime with two female undergraduates in a darkened laser lab where they were not trained to work. Shaw reported Koski to the university’s Harassment and Discrimination Assistance and Prevention Program (HDAPP) on August 6.²

Vice Provost Philip Kass directed Daniel Gray, then director of academic employment and labor relations, to investigate the student’s allegations. Gray’s investigation surfaced a second incident: a voicemail Koski had left for a former graduate student’s new employer about unreturned keys and an uncleaned lab. HDAPP closed its inquiry into the graduate student’s conduct in October 2019, finding no policy violation.²

At the January 15, 2020 faculty meeting to consider Koski’s tenure, Shaw distributed a two-page letter written by James DiCaprio, associate director of academic employment and labor relations, asserting that Koski had violated the faculty code of conduct. A faculty senate committee later determined the letter should never have been included in her tenure package and that its distribution may have violated university procedures. The chemistry faculty voted 21 to 7 in favor of tenure anyway. Administrators and a faculty senate committee recommended against it, and UC Davis denied tenure on July 2, 2020.²

The First Lawsuit and the Court’s Ruling

In February 2020, Kass notified Koski of Gray’s investigation results and proposed a three-month pay cut and a letter of censure. Chancellor May approved a 10% pay cut for three months and the censure in May 2021.²

Koski sued the Regents of the University of California that year to challenge the sanctions. A California state court judge ruled that Chancellor May had “exceeded his authority” and committed an “abuse of discretion.” The court affirmed a faculty senate committee’s finding that only the voicemail about the lab checkout constituted a code of conduct violation and that the allegation her harassment report amounted to bullying was unfounded. The judge ordered UC Davis to return the deducted salary and pay Koski’s legal fees.²

As of October 2023, the university had still not paid those legal fees, and Koski’s attorneys began a collection action.²

The Second Lawsuit Still Pending

After the January 2020 tenure meeting, Koski filed internal complaints with UC Davis alleging discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and whistleblower violations. The university closed both investigations in July 2020 without taking action.²

In September 2022, Koski filed a second lawsuit in California state court naming Shaw, the Regents, and other university officials as defendants. The complaint alleges discrimination and retaliation. Among the cited facts is a November 2017 email in which Shaw urged junior faculty, including Koski, to attend dinners with job candidates because they were the “young, kid-free crowd,” language Koski viewed as discriminatory. The suit also alleges that Shaw, Gray, Kass, and university lawyer Sheila O’Rourke coordinated to present Gray’s investigation findings in a way designed to undermine Koski’s tenure bid, and that Kass blocked her tenure appeal. It seeks damages, legal fees, and an injunction to prevent future policy violations.²

Koski’s attorney, Sharon Vinick, confirmed that this suit would continue despite the eventual tenure grant. A court date was set for February 2024 to schedule a future trial.¹

Tenure Granted in December 2023

UC Davis restarted Koski’s tenure process in the summer of 2023 with a new application that included an amended letter of censure. The chemistry department voted in her favor a second time in May 2023. In a departure from standard procedure, her tenure package was reviewed by administrators at the University of California, Irvine, rather than UC Davis officials, some of whom are named as defendants in the pending suit. UC Davis geochemist William Casey flagged that arrangement publicly.¹

On December 20, 2023, the university informed the chemistry department that Koski had been promoted, closing a four-year stretch of sanctions, court fights, and a reversed tenure denial. The discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against Shaw, the Regents, and other named officials remains unresolved.¹

1
Chemical & Engineering News. UC Davis Grants Tenure to Kristie Koski
2
Chemical & Engineering News. Why Hasn’t Kristie Koski Made Tenure