Ex-library worker sues for harassment

By Allison Sundaram

A former employee of Orradre Library is suing Santa Clara and the university librarian for workplace harassment and labor code violations.

A copy of the lawsuit, obtained by The Santa Clara, names both the university and Librarian Elizabeth Salzar for damages up to $25,000 for "discrimination based on disability," "intentional infliction of emotional distress" and "breach of implied contract," among other charges.

The case, filed Feb. 10 in Santa Clara County Superior Court, went through a mediation status review Sept. 15 and is scheduled to undergo a case status review Nov. 17. No further details were available.

According to Chief Information Officer Ron Danielson, no library staff would be able to comment on such a "personnel issue." He then referred the issue to Human Resources, which could not comment.

The dispute centers on the implementation of eRes, and the plaintiff, Cynthia Borkenhagen's role in allegedly discovering copyright infringements on the part of the university.

Within the complaint, Borkenhagen alleges that, in 2001 during the course of helping to transition the library onto the eRes system, she discovered that the eRes program "was being used to digitally publish and disseminate "copyrighted material "without the appropriate and required copyright licenses."

"Determination of whether materials need to have copyright approval before they're put up on eRes is left to the faculty involved," Danielson said. "The issue really is whether the professor considers this use of copyrighted material to fall under the guidelines of fair use or whether it's necessary to go get permission to use the materials, to put them online."

ERes acts as a course reserve system, allowing students to access school material online that would have otherwise been copied from paper. According to Danielson, over 400 universities use some version of eRes, and during an academic year a "couple thousand" courses have materials online.

Borkenhagen alleges that after bringing the issue of missing copyrights to her supervisors, she was ordered to continue posting documents. She then alleges that the university "began a course of retaliation which included manufacturing negative evaluations of Plaintiff's performance."

Borkenhagen states that during her tenure as a university employee, which began in 1989, she was praised in her evaluations.

According to Danielson, the university does not actively attempt to prevent copyright violations. "We don't police it," he said. "It is the responsibility of the faculty member to either obtain copyright or make a determination of fair use."

Contrary to the assertion that responsibility for acquiring copyright is placed on the faculty member, Borkenhagen states that she was required to review and gain permissions, in addition to her regular work schedule.

The plaintiff was "instructed to review all of the documents in the eRes system, which at that time numbered in the several thousands, determine the permissions required, and secure such permissions," the document stated.

According to the complaint, Borkenhagen felt that she was made a "scapegoat" for the university's "copyright infringement scheme" by being assigned tasks which fell outside her field of specialization, and which allegedly exposed her to civil and criminal liability for the university's supposed copyright violations.

Borkenhagen's lawyer, Dru Anne Keegan, could not be reached for comment. Her offices declined to comment.

Contact Allison Sundaram at (408) 554-4546 or asundaram@scu.edu.