A California bill aimed at preventing the state’s public colleges and universities from hiring known sexual abusers has passed out of the legislature and is awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature.
The bill — AB 810 — targets “pass the harasser” practices — which the Chronicle of Higher Education has called “higher ed’s worst-kept secret.”
Currently, a college professor, administrator or other staff member found to have committed sexual misconduct on campus can resign and get a new job at a different institution without those accusations ever coming up in the hiring process.
That’s because higher education institutions aren’t required to share records of misconduct of their former employees with other employers. So even substantiated accusations often don’t appear on a former employee’s background check, allowing the perpetrator to escape consequences by moving from one college to the next.
“California has a duty to keep the students in our care safe,” said author of the bill, Assemblymember Laura Friedman, a Burbank Democrat. “By requiring college campuses to do their due diligence during their hiring process, AB 810 aims to reduce the passing of the harasser from campus to campus to make our campuses truly safe and equitable environments for students and staff in California.”
If signed by Newsom, Friedman’s bill would require applicants at California State University and California Community Colleges to disclose if they had previously been found to have committed sexual misconduct — including assault, harassment and other forms of discrimination. The bill also applies to the University of California, but only for tenured-track professors and coaching staff.
AB 810 requires applicants to sign a disclosure form permitting human resource officers to ask previous employers about past misconduct including but not limited to sexual assault, sexual harassment, or other forms of harassment or discrimination.
Under the bill, final applicants will also be required to authorize their former employers to release any information regarding “substantiated” allegations of misconduct and campuses will be expected to “reasonably attempt” to obtain that information.
In a news release announcing the Senate’s passing of AB 810, Friedman cited two examples where California colleges have protected perpetrators of sexual misconduct.
In February, eight students from San Joaquin Valley College filed a lawsuit against the college and a former professor they alleged sexually harassed them and was allowed to continue working at the school despite their complaints of sexual misconduct. The students’ lawsuit alleged that rather than face disciplinary action, the professor resigned in April 2023. Friedman’s office said the professor now teaches at the River Campus of North-West College.
And in 2022, two different professors at Cal State San Marcos who were investigated for sexual misconduct received generous settlements and were allowed to resign. According to the Los Angeles Times, the university agreed that if contacted for a reference, it would not comment on the reason for their resignations and in one case, actually struck the disciplinary actions taken from the professor’s employment file. Both professors went on to teach at different universities.
Friedman’s bill is part of a 12-bill package aimed at addressing and preventing sexual harassment at higher education institutions across the state, after a series of high-profile scandals exposed sexual misconduct, discrimination and retaliation across Cal State University campuses, including San Jose State University.
Newsom has until Sept. 30 to decide on AB 810 and other bills passed in the final days of the legislative session.
“No student should ever have to worry about sexual harassment, especially at the hands of an instructor or coach,” said Kate Rodgers, UCLA student and Co-Chief of Policy for GenerationUp, a supporter of the bill. “Without AB 810, it is all too common for known abusers to end up right back in the classroom, endangering every member of a campus community. California’s public colleges and universities need this bill to stop the proliferation of misconduct and begin to regain the trust of the students they exist to serve.”
