From: Andrew Litt litt2017@lawnet.ucla.

edu
Subject: Re: Fwd: Error on Summer Sessions Schedule of Classes
Date: June 11, 2017 at 1:55 PM
To: Jane Bitar jbitar@ucla.edu
Cc: Kerri Johnson kerri.johnson@ucla.edu, Brian bvenner@registrar.ucla.edu, Jisoo jkim@summer.ucla.edu, Zenia Kim
zkim@commstds.ucla.edu, Holly Craig Wehrle hcraigwehrle@ucaft.org, Beck, Anthony tbeck@summer.ucla.edu, Bobek, Carly
cbobek@chr.ucla.edu, Keith Fink kfink@ucla.edu

Jane,

Your message below does not represent the truth by any stretch of one's imagination. My
email to the Summer Sessions Office merely served to notify people on campus of an error
on the Summer schedule. It was not (and is not) an indication Keith authorized" me to
cancel" his teaching, nor is it an indication that Keith has chosen" not to teach in the
Summer.

The first overarching problem here is the fact that you are (pretending?) to seriously
contend that you believe Keith was going to teach this Summer. You have no reason to
believe that and even if you did, your actions (or rather, inactions) suggest otherwise.
The Department has long known that Keith was not going to be teaching this Summer.

Im obviously not privy to all communications between Keith and the Department, but based
on what I do know, its blindly obvious that you had numerous opportunities to realize that
Keith did not cancel his teaching. On May 18, Keith told the Department that his last day
on campus was going to May 31. He then authorized me to pick up all of his mail and
remaining paychecks, as he would not be in the country for the vast majority of the summer.
You were copied on this email, Jane. There is no way you can in good conscience
contend that you were unaware of this. Keith continued to express to the Department on
multiple occasions that he was going to be in Asia all summer. At a minimum, on June 1 he
asked Zenia if Dean Gmez final decision could be PDFed to him to alleviate him of the
burden of flying 7,000+ miles to pick up a piece of paper. Zenia never responded, and Keith
had to follow up four (!) times before getting an answer each time stating that he would
not be back in the United States until August and would appreciate the PDF. The
Department emptied out Keiths mailbox and put the contents in an envelope for me to
collect. I picked it up last week, and everyone in the main office knew exactly what it was,
why I was there to get it, and seemed eager to pass it off to me to get me out of the office.
Why would Keith ask and authorize me to pick up his mail and checks if he was going to be
in the United States teaching at UCLA this summer?

Jane, at a minimum, was well aware that Keiths last day on campus was May 31. The
Department had ample notice to fix this situation prior to my email to Summer Sessions on
June 6. It is completely absurd that, despite this extensive notice, Jane is now trying to
portray me as someone who is authorized to cancel Keiths teaching because he has
chosen not to teach this summer when in fact nothing could be further from the truth.

The second overarching problem is that Keith did not choose to teach this summer. Why
would he choose not to teach this summer when he has taught for your Departments
Summer Sessions programs for nearly a decade? It is the Department that does not want
Keith to teach during the Summer or otherwise. The Department never confirmed (let
alone initiated) Keiths Summer Sessions appointment. You know full well that Keith loves
teaching at UCLA and has been fighting for the past six months to continue doing so. The
Departments failure to confirm Keiths Summer appointments is no surprise especially
Departments failure to confirm Keiths Summer appointments is no surprise especially
since the Chair, Vice Chair, and the MSO have fought hard to have him stop teaching at
UCLA.

Did you ever send Keith an invitation to participate in your 2017 Summer Sessions offerings
(https://r.summer.ucla.edu/pdf/Unit18SSInvitationLetter.pdf)? Even if you didnt use the
form letter, did you adhere to Article 23(B)(1) of the Unit 18 MOA that stipulates that
Summer Sessions lectures shall be notified in writing of critical details of their appointment
(see list below)?

a. the title of the position;

b. the salary amount and salary arrangements;
c. the name of the employing department;
d. the period for which the appointment is effective;
e. the course(s) assigned;
f. any other duties that have been assigned;
g. the name of the department chair, program head or other person to whom the NSF
reports;
h. the fact that NSF are represented by a union, the UC-AFT;
i. the fact that the terms and conditions of the appointment are contained in the
Agreement;
j. the Web Site addresses of both the University and the Union, including a link to the
MOU; and
k. whether the appointment is a contingency appointment and the criterion on which a
withdrawal of the appointment would be based.

Assuming you never sent Keith a Letter of Appointment or notified him in writing of the
details of a prospective Summer appointment as required by the Unit 18 MOA, there is
nothing to cancel."
This is your responsibility not mine, and not Keiths.

Did you ever ask Keith who he wanted to serve as his TA or Course Reader for the summer,
or contact that student to fill out pre-employment paperwork? Who do you have in mind?

I see exactly what youre trying to do here. Youre trying to spin your failure to ever appoint
Keith as a failure by me or him to cancel his courses.

The third issue here is the fact that youve represented to students for months that Keith
was teaching two classes in the Summer, only to pull the rug out from underneath them at
the last minute when they learn that someone else is teaching these courses. You know full
well that many students in Keiths classes enroll because he is an excellent professor. Your
own website portrays him as an excellent and influential teacher (which is incredibly ironic
seeing as youre doing everything you can to push him off campus). This fact makes me
livid: the Department uses Keiths accurate student reviews to portray him as excellent
when theyre trying to promote his lucrative Summer courses, but clip a few negative
comments when theyre simultaneously trying to push him out of the Department on the
grounds that hes not excellent. Does this Department have no integrity? I am embarrassed
to be a graduate of what has become a morally bankrupt department.
I can only surmise that your reasons for falsely claiming I was authorized to cancel
Keiths summer teaching is due to the fact that his Summer classes each individually
account for more of your summer revenue than any other class you offer and that you
want to punt the responsibility for that to someone else. Collectively, of course, the financial
effect is even bigger. But for the benefit to the Departments budget, Im sure you would
have rejoiced in the fact that Keith isnt teaching this summer.

As I said earlier, many UCLA students have made plans contingent upon your listing of
Professor Fink as the instructor for CS 164 and CS 184 this summer. As you also know, ever
since this Schedule of Classes was updated to say The Staff, numerous students have
emailed me asking what this means. Likewise, students throughout the world have been
asking for Syllabi to arrange transfer credit to their home universities. For the benefit of all
involved, I asked you last week what I should tell these students but you never got back
to me. These students need to know whats going on ASAP. Were you planning on waiting
until the last minute to pit the students against Keith?

The one point we agree on is that there is an urgent need to correct the Schedule of
Classes to reflect whoever is actually teaching these courses. You must immediately notify
all students currently enrolled that Keith is not teaching in the summer. If you dont, I will
I cant sit idly by and tacitly support what seems to be a bait-and-switch attempt by the
Department to dupe students into taking a class with a popular professor that they know full
well is not teaching this Summer (as a result of your own failure to act).

Kind regards,

Andrew

On Jun 10, 2017, 2o10 PM -0700, Jane Bitar <jbitar@ucla.edu>, wrote:

Keith,

I have not received a response from you to the e-mail below. Since Andrew ccd you on
the e-mail he wrote the Summer Sessions Office, we will take Andrews e-mail as an
indication that you have authorized him to cancel your teaching, and therefore, you have
chosen not to teach in the summer.

If we do not hear from you in 24 hours, we will reassign your classes.

Jane

__________________________
Jane Bitar, MSO
UCLA, Communication Studies
(310) 206-8828 Phone
(310) 206-2371 Fax
jbitar@ucla.edu
__________________________

Begin forwarded message:

From: Jane Bitar <jbitar@ss.ucla.edu>

From: Jane Bitar <jbitar@ss.ucla.edu>
Subject: Re: Error on Summer Sessions Schedule of Classes
Date: June 6, 2017 at 1o48o27 PM PDT
To: Keith Fink <kfink@g.ucla.edu>
Cc: Andrew Litt <litt2017@lawnet.ucla.edu>, Kerri Johnson
<kerri.johnson@ucla.edu>

Keith,

Can you confirm that your plans to teach in the summer have been changed, despite
previous e-mails in with your teaching schedule was set with your consultation. I
need an e-mail from you and not Andrew.

Jane
__________________________
Jane Bitar, MSO
UCLA, Communication Studies
(310) 206-8828 Phone
(310) 206-2371 Fax
jbitar@ucla.edu
__________________________

On Jun 6, 2017, at 7o28 AM, Andrew Litt <alitt@finklawfirm.com> wrote:

Brian and Tony,

Im writing to notify you of a mistake on the Schedule of Classes for UCLAs

upcoming Summer Sessions.

The Registrars website currently lists Keith Fink as the instructor for
Communication Studies 164 (Entertainment Law) and Communication Studies 184
(Contemporary Social Issues) during Summer Session A. This is an error, as
Professor Fink is not teaching these courses this summer.

Several students have recently asked me about these courses, inquiring as to

whether Im assisting with them, if they can see prior years syllabi, if theyre
similar to courses offered during the academic year, etc. At first I thought that
these emails were stray messages from students who were looking at an old
schedule of classes. After some investigation, it appears that these students are
simply being misled as to who is instructing their course. Not only does the
Registrars Schedule of Classes incorrectly list Professor Fink as the instructor,
but the Communication Studies Departments own webpage features glowing
student testimonials from former students enticing them to take these courses
(links here and here).

This error is problematic for several reasons not least of which is the fact that
the Schedule of Classes is misleading students as to who their instructor is. As
Ive come to understand, many of these students are taking the class because
theyve heard great things about Professor Fink. Many UCLA students have
enrolled in these courses due to their misguidedly incorrect belief that Professor
Fink would be teaching them. More urgently, students around the world have
enrolled in these courses and need syllabi to get their transfer units pre-approved.
enrolled in these courses and need syllabi to get their transfer units pre-approved.
Left uncorrected, this error amounts to a bait-and-switch scheme in which many
students have planned their summers around taking a specific course with a
specific instructor, only to have the rug pulled from underneath them at the last
minute. Assuming that is not your objective, Im sure you agree that the listing
should be corrected ASAP.

To prevent this from occurring, can you please see to it that the publicized course
offering information is corrected accordingly? I am unsure why the department
has Professor Fink listed as the instructor for these courses this summer. I also do
not know who is actually teaching these courses. In any event, its only fair for
students enrolled and prospective alike to know as soon as possible so they
can obtain syllabi or adjust their plans as necessary.

Lastly, once the listing is updated and the correct instructor is identified, Id
appreciate it if you could provide me with their name and contact information so I
can forward any further inquiries to them. It is a great disservice to our students
and arguably even more so to the international students to ignore these inquires
or lack the information necessary to adequately respond to them. It would be
beneficial (both for the students and for the school) for me to know how to route
and/or respond to any further inquiries that come my way.

Thanks in advance let me know if you need any additional information.

Kind regards,

Andrew L. Litt
UCLA School of Law, Class of 2017
Keith A. Fink & Associates
(650) 868-0695 cell
(310) 268-0783 direct
(310) 268-0790 facsimile