THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Today's News

Friday, October 16, 1998

5 Adjuncts in Washington State File Suit Saying TheyAren't Paid for Hours Worked

By ALISON SCHNEIDER

Five part-time faculty members at community colleges in Washington State, fed up with their low salaries, have filed a class-action lawsuit seeking unspecified damages for years of unpaid wages and overtime.

The suit was filed last week in King County Superior Court against the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, which oversees the two-year institutions in the state.

The plaintiffs sued under the Washington Minimum Wage Act. According to the complaint, the board did not pay part-timers for work they did outside the classroom -- work for which full-time professors are typically compensated.

The adjuncts allege that they were not paid for time spent on class preparation, student counseling, test preparation, grading, course development, department meetings, and, in the case of one of the plaintiffs, teaching an independent-study course. The board also failed to pay the plaintiffs for overtime when they worked more than 40 hours a week, the complaint says.

The five part-timers participating in the suit are Larry Bullis, a photography instructor at Skagit Valley Community College; Diane Butcher-Evans, a mathematics instructor at Green River Community College; Calvin C. Clawson, a mathematics lecturer in the Seattle Community College District; Eva R. Mader, a German instructor at North Seattle Community College; and Steve Taylor, a faculty member in the computer-science department at Whatcom Community College.

The plaintiffs seek to represent all part-time instructors in the state's community colleges who are paid an hourly wage. The complaint estimates that there are at least 1,489 people in that class.

"If our employer is requiring us to work for hours that we're not being paid for, it's in violation of the law," Mr. Bullis said. "The idea that the state is unaware that we have to spend time for which we are not being paid is just preposterous. Of course, they know."

"Frankly, I've had enough," he added. "When I heard about this lawsuit, I jumped at it."

He may have jumped too fast. According to Loma Sutton, a spokeswoman for the community-college board, the part-timers are suing the wrong party. "The state board is not the hiring authority for faculty," she said. "Our state administrative code gives that responsibility to the local boards of trustees for each college district. We can't say why they brought the suit against our board, but if they want to pursue it, they need to pursue it against their employers."