Fineberg Testifies in Discrimination Case

It's been a long week for University Provost Harvey V. Fineberg '67.

Fineberg was a top candidate in the recently completed presidential search. Yesterday, he took the stand in Middlesex County Superior Court to testify in a discrimination suit brought against the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) while Fineberg was dean.

Tamara Awerbuch-Friedlander, a lecturer at HSPH alleges that Fineberg refused to promote her to a tenure-track position because she is a woman, despite the positive recommendation of the HSPH's selection committee of appointment and re-appointment (SCARP).

The court has been hearing Awerbuch vs. Harvard since Feb. 26, and closing arguments will be heard in the next two days. The jury should reach a decision by the end of the week, Awerbuch-Friedlander s attorney said.

Awerbuch-Friedlander is seeking nearly $1million in lost wages and benefits, as well as a promotion at the HSPH. She has declined a six-figure settlement offer, Science magazine reported in February.

Awerbuch-Friedlander also alleges in the law suit that her application was not properly considered for a position in the ecology and epidemiology branch of the HSPH and that she lost out on a job in the risk analysis branch of HSPH to a man, though she was more qualified.

Lastly Awerbuch-Friedlander contends that when she complained about discrimination at the HSPH, the University retaliated against her, removing her from the phone book and refusing to pay her over a technicality.

Daryl Lapp is acting counsel for Harvard, and Fineberg spent almost three hours on the stand yesterday responding to Lapp's questions.

Fineberg noted in his testimony that the number of lecturers at Harvard who are promoted to faculty positions is very small. Only six internal candidates have been made faculty members in the last 15 years, out of a total of 160 appointments.

In 1989, one of Awerbuch-Friedlander'a superiors recommended her for a promotion to a tenure track position, and this recommendation was supported by the reviewing committee SCARP.

But in court yesterday, Fineberg admitted that there are no written guidelines that forced him to accept SCARP's recommendation--

Awerbuch-Friedlander's promotion was subject to Fineberg's approval.

Fineberg said yesterday that he did not think Awerbuch-Friedlander's work in the field of biomathematics warranted a professorship at the HSPH.

"It doesn't help to have a lone ranger in an isolated field," Fineberg said.

Harvard's attorney implied in yesterday's proceedings that Awerbuch-Friedlander was overly aggressive and unreasonable in her requests for promotion.

Finberg used an analogy of flowers and vases to describe the tenure process to the jury.

He said that finding academics for professorships is like having empty vases in different rooms of one's house and going to a flower shop to buy the best flowers for each vase.

He compared Awerbuch-Friedlander to a "a flower screaming out to you in the middle of the street"--it may be beautiful, but might not be what you need.

Fineberg said yesterday that he took SCARP's recommendation as a warrant for him to make the decision about offering Awerbuch-Friedlander a tenure track post, and did not interpret the recommendation as a particularly enthused endorsement.

Awerbuch-Friedlander testified before the court on Feb. 26 and 27.