A professor who sued UCLA after he was suspended in the wake of the George Floyd-Black Lives Matter riots after refusing a request to grade black students leniently is about to get his day in court.
UCLA accounting lecturer Gordon Klein is demanding $22 million in damages in a trial scheduled to begin July 1 in a Santa Monica courthouse.
The two sides have engaged in legal wrangling since September 2021, when Klein first filed suit, and the trial date has been delayed several times over the last year.
Klein argues UCLA’s knee-jerk reaction to publicly suspend him and excoriate his reputation effectively destroyed his lucrative litigation expert practice.
Klein states in court documents he made about $1 million annually as an expert witness in many high-profile corporate cases.
“By this moment, as a direct and immediate result of [his] public suspension and excoriation, Professor Klein’s expert witness practice had been permanently destroyed,” states Klein’s written opening argument, a copy of which was obtained by The College Fix.
The statement was submitted in writing as both parties have agreed to a bench trial to be decided by a judge.
??NEW: Will UCLA have to fork over $22 million to Gordon Klein, the business professor it suspended after he refused a request to grade black students leniently?
We will soon find out — the trial is scheduled to start July 1 in a Santa Monica courthouse!
I just read… pic.twitter.com/cwSdaKtVMT
— Jennifer Kabbany (@JenniferKabbany) June 28, 2025
Klein’s attorneys argue he is now ethically obligated to disclose his suspension “irrespective of its outcome – to potential clients and if questioned by opposing counsel about any record of academic discipline, a standard line of cross-examination with academic experts.”
“The Court will hear testimony from our expert witnesses … that, by virtue of this public suspension, Professor Klein has become essentially unmarketable and unusable as an expert witness,” the attorneys state.
UCLA’s defense appears to center on several points, according to Klein’s 24-page opening statement. They argue he has no standing to sue because he did not finalize the arbitration process, but Klein’s response is that it was UC regents who dropped the ball.
The university’s attorneys also argue Klein was suspended not for the content of his email, or his political stance, but for his “tone and manner,” allegedly acting unprofessionally.
UCLA also appears to argue that Klein was suspended for more than just the email — apparently two issues from his past were flagged during discussions leading up to his suspension. Klein’s response is to point to his “unblemished” 44-year employment record.
Klein, who joined the UCLA Anderson School of Management in 1981, continues to teach as a full-time lecturer there. But his lawsuit alleges he made most of his money as a litigation expert.
He has testified, for example, in several high-profile court cases, including Michael Jackson’s wrongful death, Apple’s acquisition of Dr. Dre’s Beats headphones, and the valuation of General Motors’ assets in bankruptcy.
The crux of the controversy took place following Floyd’s death, when Klein received a request asking that he provide academic leniency for his black students enduring emotional duress.
It was a relatively common request at the time among college students at several universities as the nation dealt with racial tension and rioting.
Klein responded June 2, 2020, by asking how he was supposed to identify black students in the online class; whether he should also go easy on white students from Minneapolis; how much leeway to show half-black students; and how the student feels about Martin Luther King Jr.’s admonition to not evaluate people based on “the color of their skin.”
A screenshot of Klein’s response was distributed widely and decried by students in messages and on social media.
In response, Anderson School Dean Antonio Bernardo wrote in a June 4, 2020, memo to the campus community that Klein was suspended and an investigation was underway.
While not naming Klein specifically, Bernardo’s memo referred to the high-profile incident as “troubling conduct by one of our lecturers.”
“Conduct that demonstrates a disregard for our core principles, including an abuse of
power, is not acceptable,” he added. “…I deeply regret the increased pain and anger that our community has experienced at this very difficult time. We must and will hold each other to higher standards.”
Klein was reinstated less than a month later, but his lawsuit alleges the damage was already done.