Clare Weber, pictured left, is the former vice provost at California State University San Bernardino, and Anissa Rogers is the former associate dean of CSUSB’s Palm Desert campus. Both sued the Cal State University system’s board of trustees and top Cal State San Bernardino officials in March 2023 alleging pay disparity and discrimination against female employees. (Courtesy of Courtney Abrams)

The California State University system has agreed to pay $12 million to settle gender harassment and retaliation claims brought by two former administrators at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB), according to a release issued by the plaintiffs’ attorneys.

The settlement resolves lawsuits filed by former Vice Provost of Academic Affairs Dr. Clare Weber and former Associate Dean Dr. Anissa Rogers, who alleged they faced retaliation and harassment after raising concerns about gender inequity and workplace misconduct within the university system.

The agreement follows a Los Angeles County jury verdict in October 2025 that awarded Rogers $6 million after jurors found CSU liable for retaliation, gender harassment and failure to prevent harassment under California law.

Attorneys representing the women said the newly finalized settlement is believed to be one of the largest publicly reported employment discrimination settlements involving the CSU system, the nation’s largest four-year public university system.

Lead trial counsel David J. deRubertis said the cases centered on accountability within higher education institutions.

“From the beginning, these cases were about accountability,” deRubertis stated in the release. “Dr. Weber and Dr. Rogers took enormous professional and personal risks in challenging conduct they believed was unlawful.”

Attorney Andrew H. Friedman said the litigation highlighted what plaintiffs described as broader systemic problems within CSU.

“These cases highlighted the real human cost of retaliation in academic institutions,” Friedman said. “Meaningful accountability only happens when organizations are willing to confront these problems directly.”

The lawsuits allege that CSUSB leadership, including campus President Tomas Morales and other senior administrators, oversaw what plaintiffs described as a hostile environment for women in which complaints about gender inequity, harassment and retaliation were ignored or punished.

Weber alleged she was fired shortly after formally raising concerns about unequal pay between male and female administrators.

Rogers alleged she was forced out after reporting harassment and retaliation to CSU executives and human resources officials.

The release states Weber plans to retire after more than 25 years in the CSU system.

Trial testimony in the Rogers case also drew attention to CSU’s internal handling of harassment complaints.

CSUSB Provost Rafik Mohamed said that he considered complaints involving gender harassment by a senior dean to be “low-grade bias” and acknowledged he did not report the complaints to human resources or Title IX officials despite being a mandated reporter.

Courtney Abrams, another attorney representing the plaintiffs, said the outcome reflected years of litigation over how the university system handled complaints from female employees.

“CSU spent years protecting harassers instead of the women they harmed,” Abrams stated in the release.

The cases unfolded amid broader scrutiny over workplace culture and misconduct allegations within the CSU system.

In recent years, multiple campuses across California have faced complaints, lawsuits and investigations involving allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation involving faculty and administrators.

CSU, founded in 1960, is the largest four-year public university system in the United States, serving more than 450,000 students across 23 campuses statewide, according to the university system’s official figures.

The settlement resolves Weber’s claims before a second trial could begin.

Attorneys said several senior CSU officials who testified during the Rogers trial had been expected to appear again in Weber’s case.