AHMADI-KASHANI

Mastaneh Ahmadi-Kashani appeals from a judgment entered against her after the court granted a motion for summary judgment. Ahmadi-Kashani sued her employer, the Regents of the University of California, and her supervisor, Mani Vannan, M.D. (collectively the Regents), alleging sexual harassment in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA; Gov. Code, § 12900 et seq.). The court granted the summary judgment after concluding Ahmadi-Kashani’s lawsuit was barred because she initiated, but did not complete, an internal grievance process set forth in a collective bargaining agreement entered into between the university and her union. The court reasoned that although Ahmadi-Kashani would have been entitled to bypass the internal process entirely, and proceed directly with her FEHA claim, she was required to complete the internal process once she had initiated it.

We reverse. While the grievance process offered to Ahmadi-Kashani allowed her an opportunity for informal resolution of her grievances, it did not provide for a “quasi-judicial” hearing with sufficient due process to generate a legally binding result. The only evidentiary hearing even mentioned…