Madera administrator sues college district, union and faculty, alleging harassment
A sweeping lawsuit accuses State Center Community College District, the State Center Federation of Teachers, the union’s president and a group of anonymous faculty members of harassment and retaliation.
Marie Harris, VP of Learning and Student Success at Madera Community College, filed the complaint on Dec. 31.
Harris says the situation began around March 2024 when the SCFT — a union representing SCCCD faculty members — conducted and distributed the results of a leadership survey. Harris, who is Black and Hispanic, says verbatim attacks against her were included in the results the union shared.
She says union leadership could have edited or redacted the survey results, which had “explicitly racist, religiously hostile, and demeaning statements,” according to the complaint. Harris also alleges SCCCD deliberately failed to intervene and that the ordeal created a hostile work environment.
Within the complaint, Harris accuses the State Center union’s president, Keith Ford, of “threatening and coercive behavior” in response to her declining to recommend a faculty member for tenure. She says she reported Ford’s actions to SCCCD in January 2025 but that no action was ever taken.
Additionally, the complaint names the SCCCD Insiders, an anonymous group of faculty members who have launched critiques against district leadership via substack.
Harris says the group publicly admitted to interfering with her employment prospects at different colleges through various Substack articles, including an opportunity to serve as president of San Jose City College.
Harris is requesting a jury trial. She wants established protocols for addressing complaints against union officials and preventing the use of campus email systems to distribute discriminatory content.
Harris wants the district to investigate the identities of the SCCCD Insiders as well, as she accuses the group of misusing confidential employment information.
A spokesperson for SCCCD declined to comment because the district is named as a party in the complaint. SCFT president Keith Ford said, “All of our dealings with Dr. Harris are both fully legal and in full support of our faculty’s rights.”
Last week, Miiko Anderson — an attorney representing Harris — filed an ex parte application for expedited discovery to subpoena records for people subscribed to the SCCCD Insiders.
The application, typically used in emergencies, also sought to unmask the identities of those running the Gmail and social media accounts for the outspoken group of anonymous faculty members, though the court denied it.
Anderson told The Bee it was an extraordinary ask due to the nature of the evidence, as the Insiders’ Substack publications can be tampered with at any time. As a result, Anderson said she was trying to get the subpoenas in advance, though the judge turned the application down to give the other party proper notice.
The SCCCD Insiders told The Bee that the ex parte motion was “aimed at exposing a whistleblowing group and violating First Amendment rights to free press by a public official.”
A case management conference is scheduled for April 29, and Anderson said the investigation will be ongoing until then.
