Ana Ramirez poses on Friday, Oct. 26. Photo provided by Ana Ramirez and taken by Maria Dimas
By Hailey Murphy
Ana Ramirez, former AS VP for Governmental Affairs, is taking legal action against Western after her work for the AS Board went uncompensated. She’s seeking $7,408 in wages, earned between Aug. 2017 and Feb. 2018, through a claim with the Department of Labor & Industries.
Western wouldn’t compensate Ramirez, who is undocumented, because she didn’t have DACA status, according to the claim. She was elected to the position, which demands a 19-hour work week and usually pays $14.75 an hour, by the student body in 2017.
However, Ramirez said the legal action is less about getting the wage and more about sending a message of accountability to Western.
“They didn’t take me seriously, and that really showed that they don’t take undocumented students in general seriously, and they don’t really care about us the way they claim to,” Ramirez said. “Cause I know that they didn’t expect to be held accountable, and they felt like they can just get away with it … I want to show them that they need to be accountable, not just for this, but for literally everything else.”
Paul Cocke, director of communications and marketing, said Western typically doesn’t comment on pending legal actions.
Ramirez filed an L&I claim instead of filing with the Whatcom County Superior Court, she said, because Western’s former Assistant Attorney General, Rob Olson, is now a judge there.
Olson investigated Ramirez’s compensation options during the AS election and ultimately said that it was illegal for Western to pay her, she said.
However, Ramirez said other universities, including WSU, Eastern and UW, find means to compensate undocumented students through stipends, scholarships or grants.
An undocumented student at California State University served as student body president and was compensated through a scholarship, according to a Western Front article from last July.
The Front spoke to Hannah Stone, a local U.S. immigration and citizenship law attorney, who said that, while Ramirez couldn’t technically be employed by law, her work could be rewarded through scholarships or stipend.
“[I was told] that Rob Olson was investigating other schools and what they do,” Ramirez said, “And, ‘Rob is trying to find a legal work-around,’ but I never even once talked to Rob. And I know other schools pay their undocumented students without DACA, in-state.”
Ramirez said she couldn’t file with small claims court because their monetary reward is maxed-out at $5,000. However, if the she isn’t compensated through L&I, she will pursue compensation through small claims court.
With an L&I claim, collection is not guaranteed, as stated on the Department of Labor and Industry website – even if the worker’s claims were substantiated after a 60 day investigation.
When filling out paperwork to run for the AS Board, Ramirez wrote that she wasn’t authorized to work in the U.S. but intended to file for DACA. She filed in May 2017, but wasn’t accepted until February 2018, a week after resigning from the board.
Ramirez, after being elected initially, was told by administration that she couldn’t serve on the Board because of her documentation status.
The decision was reversed after backlash from the student body, according to Ramirez’s press statement. A Western Front opinion piece in June 2017 detailed how removing Ramirez from the position would further fragment the relationship between administration and students.
“In order to win back the trust of the student body, the administration is going to have to show students that it will finally be willing to stand up for the issues we care about, starting with keeping Ramirez in office,” the article to reads.
A volunteer position was created for Ramirez in August 2017. Her title was changed to consultant for governmental affairs, an unpaid, non-voting position, and a subcommittee was formed to determine the details of that position.
Ramirez said this subcommittee was never truly formed and that there was no job description for the consultant position. It was unclear to her if she was allowed to vote or not. The Board meeting minutes continued to list Ramirez as the VP for Governmental Affairs for the entirety of her term.
Ramirez worked in this volunteer position until resigning on Feb. 5, 2018, according to her filed claim.
Her resignation came after a trip to Washington D.C., where Ramirez campaigned for the DREAM Act, she said.
There, she met undocumented students who’d been barred from attending college for over a decade, or who couldn’t attend college at all because they’d have to pay out-of-state-tuition rates and couldn’t receive financial aid.
“Why am I wasting my time on this when there are bigger issues in the world? I have better things to do, bye.” Ramirez said. “I just emailed them and I was like, ‘I’m leaving… I’ve decided to resign, effective immediately’. And then I just totally forgot about them. I moved on completely. I just cleaned out my office and I never looked back.”
Ramirez did ultimately come back to the position in spring quarter, which she was compensated for. However, she said she had to write a letter to get let back onto the Board and once she was, she was left without work.
“I lowkey quit again in spring quarter,” Ramirez said, “Because I went back and I was really excited, but people had taken over my work that I was supposed to be doing and they didn’t want to give it back to me, so they straight-up didn’t.”
Ramirez said working in this position took an academic and emotional toll. She had to take two incompletes and was put on academic probation.
The label of volunteer was particularly difficult, Ramirez said, because she feels she wasn’t taken seriously with that title even though she oversaw the office just as a paid VP would.
“It’s really hard to want to be here when very obviously, the university doesn’t want me here,” Ramirez said.
Now that Ramirez has filed a claim, L&I will collect documentation from both Ramirez and Western to serve their investigation, such as timesheets and pay stubs.
After 60 days of review, if they find Ramirez’s claims are substantiated, L&I will issue a citation to Western and go about their collection procedures, according to their website. Their collection process isn’t detailed online, although it states that collection isn’t guaranteed.
If the claims aren’t substantiated, the case will be closed with a letter to Ramirez known as a Declaration of Compliance, according to the L&I website.
Both Ramirez and Western have 30 days to appeal a decision.
Read Ramirez’s statement here.