New York University - In The News

University Business, April, 2002 by Jean Marie Angelo

Although graduate students at New York University won their fight to form a union, there may still be one labor casualty. Joel Westheimer, a former assistant professor of education, claims that the university has denied him tenure in retaliation for sympathetic testimony he gave before the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of the graduate students.

Westheimer, son of radio talk therapist Ruth Westheimer, taught at NYU from 1996 to 2001. NYU officials say their actions were not based on Westheimer's pro-union testimony but, rather, his lack of sufficient and significant scholarship in the field and contributions to the department. Westheimer says he consistently received positive performance reviews at NYU, and that the quality of his work was never an issue.