Schutten

I. BACKGROUND

As this appeal is from a summary judgment order, we take the facts below from the trial court record, resolving conflicts in the evidence and drawing reasonable inferences in favor of Schutten as the party opposing summary judgment. (See, e.g., Yanowitz v. L’Oreal USA, Inc. (2005) 36 Cal.4th 1028, 1037 (Yanowitz).) A. Schutten’s Employment as Dean Schutten was born in 1954. In March 2015, at the age of 61, she was hired to be the Dean of the College of Applied Arts and Sciences at San José State University. As this was a management position, it carried “no commitment of permanent status.” However, if the university opted not to retain her as dean, Schutten was given the right to “retreat” to a tenured position as a full professor in the Department of Kinesiology. When Schutten was hired, the president of the university was Mohammad Qayoumi, but he left in August 2015, the month after Schutten began working. Qayoumi was replaced first by an interim president and later by Mary Papazian, who served as president from July 2016 until 2021. Schutten reported to the provost, who was Andrew Feinstein, from Schutten’s hiring until the summer of 2018. That summer, Dr. Joan…