Lecturer Eric Canin to return to CSUF following investigation into misconduct

Daily Titan

Anthropology lecturer Eric Canin will return to teach at Cal State Fullerton this fall after Arbitrator Jan Stiglitz concluded that his actions during an altercation that occurred Feb. 8 warranted a two-month suspension.
Canin was put on paid leave after the university’s internal investigation concluded that “a campus employee struck a student and that as a consequence, the speech of the student group was stopped.”
The university will consider two months of Canin’s paid leave last semester following the incident toward fulfilling the two-month suspension if he reimburses what he was paid during that time, said CSUF Chief Communications Officer Jeffrey Cook in an email.
“In his decision, Arbitrator Stiglitz agreed with the University’s factual conclusions regarding Dr. Canin’s misconduct, finding that ‘based on the sworn testimony of the percipient witnesses, I do conclude that Dr. Canin attempted to grab a sign’ being held by a student and ‘I also conclude that Dr. Canin did at some point, in some way, use his hand to make physical contact’ with a student’s face,” Cook said in an email.
Canin was served a notice of termination following the conclusion of the internal investigation, Cook said in an email. The decision was appealed in accordance with the California State University system’s collective bargaining agreement with the California Faculty Association.
This appeal led to the case being assigned to Stiglitz as a means of settling the dispute.
“Arbitrator Stiglitz then focused on Canin’s ‘intentions’ to opine that ‘there was a momentary but most unfortunate and inappropriate loss of control’ and while ‘(Canin’s) actions did, in a limited way, interfere with the rights of the College Republicans,’ that since he has worked at the campus for 20 years without incident the disciplinary penalty for his conduct should be a two-month suspension instead of termination,” Cook said in an email.
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