By Scott B. Wong
Daily Bruin Staff
A former UCLA employee is bringing his case of battery and
wrongful termination before the Los Angeles Superior Court after he
said repeated requests for an official response from the university
were not met.
Garry Scarff, who worked as a debt management counselor in the
Student Collections Office, alleged his manager, Salwa Ayoub,
struck him in the face with a collections file Sept. 20.
But the the UC Board of Regents maintains that Scarff’s
allegations are incredible.
“We don’t agree that the claim is valid and that the
description of the facts are accurate,” said Christopher
Patti, university counsel for the UC Regents.
Scarff’s attorney, John Dean, said he’s not
surprised at the UC’s response.
“It wouldn’t be the first time that would be the
employer’s position,” he said.
Although the case was rejected by the L.A. City Attorney’s
Office on Nov. 27 due to insufficient evidence and little
likelihood of conviction, Dean filed a new lawsuit against Ayoub
and the UC Regents on March 22 in the L.A. Superior Court.
Ayoub, who would not comment on the case, and the UC were served
court summons March 30 and April 3, respectively.
Dean said the fact that university police submitted its findings
of the investigation on Nov. 27 demonstrates that the police
believed a crime had been committed.
“I feel very confident about the case,” Dean said.
“After all, the police only send a case to the City
Attorney’s Office if they feel there’s a
case.”
According to Patti, the university is required by statute to
defend its own employees who are sued as a result of actions
carried out during the course of their employment.
There are, however, narrow exceptions.
“Employees engaged in fraud or malicious conduct would not
be defended by the university,” Patti said.
Albert Brewster, senior paralegal for the UC Regents General
Counsel, said only in the case a manager does something within the
course and scope of their duties would the UC provide defense.
“But if he were to shoot an employee or commit criminal
battery, then the UC wouldn’t defend the individual,”
Brewster said.
As a standard procedure, Scarff’s case was referred to the
Office of Risk Management and is currently being processed.
“The office manages insurance coverage to see if (the
case) is worth settling or fighting,” Brewster said.
The university may also retain outside counsel, Brewster said,
but UCLA campus counsel does not handle litigation matters.
Under Ayoub’s supervision, Scarff was hired in the
Collections Office Aug. 28. On Sept. 29 ““ nine days after he
alleges Ayoub hit him in the face ““ Scarff filed a charge of
battery with university police and UCLA’s Human Resources
Department.
Hours later, Scarff said, Ayoub terminated him from his
position.
Under federal and state law, according to Dean, an employer may
not retaliate against an employee who complains about wrongful,
illegal and/or discriminatory conduct.
The bottom line, Dean said, is that his client was fired after
complaining about the alleged assault.
“That’s tortious termination,” Dean said.
“That’s illegal.”
In a letter to the university last fall, Dean contended the
events surrounding the suit were motivated by anti-Semitism. Scarff
is Jewish and Ayoub is of Syrian ancestry.
“In light of the political and religious struggle that is
currently taking place in the Middle East, UCLA’s and Ms.
Ayoub’s behavior in this regard is particularly
disturbing,” he stated in the letter.
For the past three months, Scarff said he and his attorney have
been waiting for an official response from the university regarding
the incident.
“They have responded to my attorney … on several
occasions that they were investigating the complaint,” Scarff
said in an e-mail. “After three months, they claim to still
be investigating the assault.”
Because Scarff is filing for punitive damages, Patti said the
suit constitutes a civil rather than criminal action.
An out of court settlement in a case like this is evaluated by
counsel throughout the course of the investigation, Patti said.
“If we find out something different, we might agree to a
resolution of the case to rid the expense of the litigation,”
he said. “Generally, we tend not to settle, but sometimes we
settle for small amounts.”