Last month third party investigators completed an investigation into a list of discrimination and policy violation allegations concerning Contra Costa College professor Asad Kabir and members of the 4CD administration.
In documents obtained by The Advocate, investigators Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo, through attorney Abraham Escareno determined that Chancellor Mojdeh Mehdizadeh and 4CD Chief Human Resources Officer, Jeffrey Michels did not discriminate against Kabir in regards to the allegations. In addition, the investigators found that by expressing his “personal opinion” in his emails sent to district listservs, Kabir violated five separate district policies.
Two previously published articles from The Advocate in 2024 revealed how Kabir had been put on administrative leave for sending multiple emails about his thoughts on Israel and Palestine in district listservs and how a solidarity event at CCC drew attention to a petition calling for Kabir’s reinstatement and the creation of a designated forum that would allow district faculty and staff to speak on political and social justice related topics.
Allegations and findings
Of the ten allegations presented in the investigation, seven were based on complaints made by Kabir that pertained to unlawful discrimination from Mehdizadeh and Michels due to his political affiliations, religion or previous complaints of discrimination. The remaining three questioned if Kabir had stated his “personal opinions” in the emails he sent to district listservs.
To support his complaints Kabir commented that Mehdizadeh, along with other faculty and staff members in the district, had previously sent emails to email distribution lists that included their personal opinion. However, the investigator found that Mehdizadeh was expected to send emails that discussed “sociopolitical issues that affect the community” due to her position as chancellor.
The investigator found that the emails Mehdizadeh had previously sent to email distribution lists would be compliant with district’s policies because her emails “related to college or District business,” due to the fact that they provided explanations to how district students and employees were impacted by such issues, what the district was doing in response and provided forms of support to the district community.
Kabir also provided the investigator with 11 examples of emails that had been sent by others to district listservs between the years of 2018-2021 as evidence to support the claim that Michels had discriminated against him when issuing him a letter of reprimand for his emails. However, the corresponding allegation was not sustained due to the fact that the examples were sent before Michels became the associate vice chancellor of human resources for the district.
Additionally, the investigator also found that those who sent reply-all emails “around the same time period” as Kabir’s emails on Israel and Palestine also received warning letters due to the fact that they too expressed their personal opinions on district email listservs.
Kabir also spoke during public comments on Nov. 8 during a district board meeting where he mentioned the warning letter he had received and claimed that he had received it because of his religion. But after the investigator reviewed Kabir’s comments they determined that he had made no reference to his religion and therefore did not communicate that he had been discriminated against because of it.
Due to the contents of the emails Kabir sent out on Oct. 21 2023, Oct. 31 2024 and
Nov. 1 2024 the investigator found that Kabir expressed his personal beliefs on the conflict between Israel and Palestine and therefore expressed his “personal opinions” and “failed to observe all relevant regulations and policies”.
As a result it was determined that Kabir had violated the district’s policies Implementation Guideline 2012.01 which discusses the district’s purpose and guidelines for email distribution lists and Board Policy 5030 which regards the district’s acceptable technology use policy.
When asked how the district defined the term “personal opinion”, as is mentioned in Implementation Guideline 2012.01, Michels re-stated the purpose of email distribution lists.
“The email distribution lists covered by the Implementation Guideline are intended for announcements, such as advertising campus events or informing employees of district actions that may affect working conditions or students,” said Michels.
After Kabir was told that the district would be investigating the situation, he sent an email to Michelle Seymoure, a College and Career Advisor at West Contra Costa Unified School District. In his email he explained that he had been put on administrative leave, objected to directives he received from district administration, shared copies of the emails he had sent in district listservs, explained that due to the circumstances he would not be able to come to class, and asked her to share his story.
Additionally, Kabir also shared what investigators deemed to be ‘confidential information’ while speaking on the radio magazine 94.1 FM KPFA’s Full Circle.
In doing so the investigator determined that Kabir violated United Faculty Article 29.1.6 on confidentiality, Board Policy 2056 on the district’s Code of Ethics and Human Resources Procedure 1040.08, Employee Code of Ethical Behavior for breaching the confidentiality of the investigation and violating public trust.
A direct quote from the document states, “Your refusal to follow Mr. Michels’ directives is insubordinate, and your communication to Michelle Seymore is hostile, antagonistic, and displays a lack of trustworthiness and respect.” and that comments Kabir made about Michels and Mehdizadeh while on 94.1 FM KPFA’s Full Circle “violate the principles of trustworthiness and respect, and are inconsistent with the facts.”
Kabir’s employment status and cancelled classes
Alongside the investigation, the district also gave Kabir a list of directives to follow in order to avoid further disciplinary action or termination of his position as a professor.
According to the directives outlined in the document, Kabir was required to read and abide by the district and United Faculty (UF) contract, review the content of any future emails he planned to send to all faculty or in district listservs during the 2025 Spring Semester to certify that the email did not violate district policies with the area dean and be mindful of the district’s law and policy which prohibit retaliation against anyone involved in the investigation of the complaint.
However, following the conclusion of the investigation, Kabir elected to make a statement to district administration where he outwardly expressed his disagreement with the findings and condemned the district for their actions.
“January 21, 2025
Dear Micaela Ochoa, Executive Vice Chancellor Administrative Services
In response to December 30, 2024, the findings regarding the Contra Costa Community College District’s investigation concerning allegations of my fitness to teach and violations of district policies, and my unlawful discrimination complaint, I need to state that I disagree with the findings. I have been teaching for 20 years and never had a conflict or case of “insubordination” with the administration. If one reads these “findings” and the “disciplinary letter,” issued on January 19, 2025, one wonders what the issue was. The whole content of my conscientious objection to the genocide in Gaza has disappeared, turning the whole issue into a bureaucratic shell without content, a cocoon without a butterfly.
Possessions and positions will melt like ice and our deeds will remain, my sisters and brothers. At the time of Nazi also, one could use the same language to stop the conscientious objection to the extermination of the Jews. They could also mention so many bureaucratic “ethical codes” to cover up their ethical culpability in the genocide. Would you like to be remembered like them?
It is useless, the emperor has no clothes, the International Court of Justice, The World Criminal Court, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Center for Constitutional Rights (US), UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Jewish Voice for Peace, and International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network have declared that Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza.
So far, fourteen countries have joined or signaled their intention to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel in the World Court. They include Belgium, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Ireland, Spain, Libya, Maldives, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Türkiye. In addition, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani accused Israel of committing a “collective genocide” in Gaza.
International Criminal Court Pre-Trial Chamber I issued warrants of arrest for two individuals, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr. Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest.
Does Contra Costa College District want to be one of those institutions that under the pretext that “some faculty and staff” (read “Zionists” and defenders of the apartheid state of Israel) object to the majority of the faculty and staff who wish to protest the genocide in Gaza, and consequently decide to strictly enforce the 5030 Board Policy that has been unevenly and rarely enforced since 2003?
The administration’s letters to me completely elude the content of my unlawful political discrimination complaint. It is like taking away life out of life, and then looking for discrimination in the dead skins of bureaucratic policies. Look into your hearts, my sisters and brothers, not into formalities and legal language.
At the time of the presidency of Trump who in his inauguration day ordered the start of mass deportations of immigrants in the U.S and will suffocate freedom of the oppressed, including Palestinians and conscientious objectors to the genocide in Gaza, does Contra Costa College District decide to strictly stop the faculty and staff to speak for the immigrants and to organize for antiracist and antigenocide awareness and protests on their All Employee listserv, while other colleges such as the Peralta College District allow such interactions?
Instead of admitting that the Board Policy 5030 was unevenly enforced, specifically since October 7th, 2023 that the genocide in Gaza started, and repealing this policy, so that the faculty and staff can openly engage in discussing pressing social political issues, respecting their autonomy and sound judgements, the administration has asked me to agree with their “findings” and to send all the emails I wish to send to the All Faculty email listserv to the Dean to decide if it is politically neutral to be published. It is like putting a criminal on probation.
These laws and regulations tie your own hands behind your back. The faculty and staff cannot thus confront the ultra-right policies of the Trump administration in a common discourse between them on the all-employee mailing list. As I mentioned in my letter on November 15th, 2024, because you and the administration decided to do injustice and silence us in the face of the genocide, you deprive the space of solidarity in the face of horrendous events facing us in the future.
I am proud to have this response stay on my file for posterity, so people know that I was not silent when genocide happened in Gaza fueled by American money and weaponry.
My Best Wishes,
Asad Kabir
Humanities and Philosophy Department
CC: Kimberly Rogers, CCC President
Jason Berner, Vice President of Equity and Instruction, CCC
Jeffrey Michels, Associate Vice Chancellor, Human Resources
Marina Crouse, President, United Faculty of 4CD
Jason Mayfield, Executive Director, United Faculty of 4CD
Mojdeh Mehdizadeh, Chancellor of Contra Costa College District”
As a consequence of his email the three courses Kabir was assigned to teach in the Spring 2025 semester were cancelled and, as of the publication of this article, Kabir remains on administrative leave.
Policy changes
In response to the situation, UF and Contra Costa Community College District (4CD) have met and collaborated in order to create a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with six updated to pre-existing procedures to dictate how the district will handle future instances of email listserv policy violations.
According to the MOU, faculty members who have received a warning letter specifically for misusing district email distribution lists may now have the district rescind the directive to bar said faculty from email distribution lists if they sign and send a letter to the Associate Vice Chancellor, Human Resources Officer stating that they have read the relevant district policies, procedures, guidelines and agree to abide by them.
However, current or future faculty members who have or will receive warning letters for violating email distribution list policies that choose to disagree in writing to abide by the policies will be instructed to not send any more emails to said listservs. Those who violate any email distribution listserv policies on more than one occasion could potentially receive disciplinary action from the district.
Going forward the district will also be including a reference to the process of sending the aforementioned letter that would allow faculty to gain back access to email listservs in warning letters specifically for a first violation of any email distribution list policies.
Due to the work-related nature of the district listservs, the updated procedures outlined that faculty members who have been told not to send emails in district listservs are still allowed to request that a Implementation Guideline 2012.01 compliant work-related announcement be sent on their behalf by the dean.
UF and 4CD expect to start formal negotiations on reopeners in February of this year and the MOU stated that, “UF and 4CD will continue to work collaboratively on issues related to technology and communications, where such issues affect working conditions and are appropriate subjects for collective bargaining.”
Response from students and administration
Faculty and staff from the humanities and philosophy department at CCC have been impacted by Kabir’s absence and have expressed their disappointment at the dismissal of what many have described as a highly esteemed professor and colleague.
“I was surprised and disappointed by the decision, because Professor Kabir was a valued and upstanding member of the department,” said Michael Kilivris, the chair of the humanities and philosophy department at CCC. “He taught classes that other professors were not as interested in teaching, for example, off campus at MIT Academy.”
Dr. Ina Kelleher, an assistant humanities and philosophy professor at CCC, explained that Kabir was responsible for teaching a majority of the philosophy classes and that he made a lasting impression on his students.
“He really was a pillar of our philosophy department,” Kelleher said in a phone interview. “I’ve definitely had other students in my classes speak about him fondly, refer to his class content and lectures regularly, so I think he’s had a really positive and big impact in our students.”
As Kabir’s period of administrative leave continues to extend, some have reported that there has been little correspondence between the district and members of the humanities and philosophy department involving the situation. Kilivris explained that he was not involved with hiring replacements to teach professor Kabir’s classes but would have liked to work with district administration to make the transition smoother.
“I think it would have been better for the department and the students affected if we had collaborated more in staffing the classes,” said Kilivris. “I have more of a relationship with the adjunct faculty in this department. I could have reached out to them and been able to, ideally, restaff the class in a short period of time.”
A number of humanities and philosophy faculty at CCC felt that there was a lack of communication from district administration when it came to the situation with professor Kabir. The absence of information on his employment status has contributed to an uncertain future for both students and professors when it comes to Kabir and his classes.
“Administration has not communicated to me or my whole department about what is going on so there is this feeling of uncertainty, and I feel not informed about what the situation is,” said Kelleher. “I found out [about Kabir being put on administrative leave] secondhand which was a really terrible way to find out what was going on with my colleague.”
Like many, Kelleher mentioned that the situation with Kabir has highlighted the contradictory nature of social justice within the district. Despite claims that the district values academic freedom, some faculty members feel as if the lack of open communication and administrative support have been discouraging open discussions on social justice.
“I think all we need is a space and administrative support and a very productive, generative, and peaceful dialogue is possible,” said Kelleher. “But we need to have the support of our administrators and to encourage a culture of transparency where things are not kept in the dark.”
Despite continued calls for the implementation of a designated online space for speaking on political, social justice or other important topics the district has yet to formally address such demands from the petition last semester.
“Finding an alternative mailing list or platform could satisfy all parties and open for all who are interested in joining,” said Magdy Hussein, a business professor at Diablo Valley College. “The district should ensure the safety of faculty and students from being retaliated against because of their opinions and political affiliation.”
When asked if there is currently an appropriate in-person space or online forum for district faculty and staff to discuss topics relating to politics or social justice without breaking any of the district’s policies or guidelines, Michels explained that campuses are frequently used as venues for such discussions.
“Faculty, staff, managers, and students all have the ability to meet and discuss issues on campus, and of course this happens regularly,” Michels explained in an email. “Both employee groups and student groups often reserve district facilities for all sorts of events, including forums for discussions and debate.”
However, Michels did not respond when he was asked a follow up question on whether or not the district already had or would create an online space for faculty and staff to discuss political or social justice related topics without being in violation of district policies he did not respond.
While differing opinions regarding the possible creation of an online platform for discussion by the district are shared amongst 4CD employees, many are in agreement that Kabir’s emails to district listservs should not have resulted in him being put on administrative leave.
“In either scenario, this should have been handled differently, especially since we are living through an exceptional and unprecedented event of genocide that is live aired,” said Hussein.
Despite Kabir’s prolonged absence and the cancellation of his classes, many still remain optimistic that he will be allowed to teach at CCC again.
“I’m hopeful that he can return and be part of the department again,” said Kilivris.
