Things we can do, part 2 (ACLU)

When my 3 years at Case Western Reserve were up, I was up for 3 more.  I had to interview for my job, but to anyone you asked, it was all just a formality.  Well....I didn't get the job again.  What's more, they didn't tell me why.

I received an email explaining that my contract was being allowed to just run out and that if I had any questions, I could meet with the chair of my department.  I declined to do so as I pretty much knew why I wasn't being re-upped.  I have kids, and because I had to be at home when they got off the bus, I couldn't attend the writer's workshop group on Fridays (non-mandatory).  The woman who was running the group was responsible for making decisions about whether or not I would be re-upped at Case.  She was/is an adjunct and she knew that if people didn't go to her non-mandatory meeting, it would endanger her job and so...

This got me thinking though.  How many adjuncts are let go because, like me, they have kids?  How many are let go because they're gay or because they're women or because they're over 40?  How many are let go because they are members of a minority?  How many because they become pregnant or because they have a sick kid or because they have to take some emergency time off to care for a dying parent.  Answer: none.  No one's let go.  Our contracts just don't get re-upped.  And so we can't sue for wrongful termination or discrimination.

Ahem...that's ridiculous.  We are Americans.  We are guaranteed certain rights.  Maybe one of us can't get the court case going, but what are the chances that the ACLU wouldn't want to pick up a major civil rights case for an entire industry of people who lose their jobs and whose bosses aren't under any obligation to tell them why.

If this describes you, or has EVER described you, you need to be telling the ACLU right now.  Moreover, this is why we need to be part of the national Adjunct conversation, because the number of adjuncts at CSU who have been discriminated against during their careers may seem like quite a few, but I'm guessing that, nation wide, it is an epidemic of civil rights violations.

Here's the link.

https://www.aclu.org/contact-us