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(Tenured Radical)

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Self-Hatred


'A Case Western Reserve University professor who said she received threatening hate letters after claiming discrimination actually wrote the letters to herself, prosecutors said Monday.

Ramani Sri Pilla, 41, was charged in U.S. District Court with one count of making false statements.

Pilla "perpetuated a hoax on CWRU and the FBI" when she claimed that she was a victim of hate crimes because of her Indian heritage and her gender, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Rowland said in court documents.

Pilla, who has taught statistics at Case since 2002, has been suspended indefinitely with pay, a university spokesman said. If the suspension is upheld, she could be required to repay the money.

Pilla told the FBI in January that she received three threatening letters beginning in August 2006. She named three co-workers as possible suspects and said the letters were likely retaliation for complaints she had made claiming discrimination.

She then sued in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, seeking a temporary restraining order and accusing the school of not doing enough to protect her.

In February, Pilla told FBI agents she received a fourth hate letter at her office.

Pilla, of Cleveland Heights, later admitted that she wrote the letters and delivered the letters herself, according to court documents. ... '


Case has taken down her faculty website. Good call. Now time to fire her.