FRESNO, Calif. -- An instructor at Fresno City College is on paid administrative leave after getting into a fight with a female student who was allegedly slammed to the ground during the brawl.
The 19-year-old student, Kevynn Gomez, said she cursed at instructor Brian Calhoun before their March 22 fight because he was being rude to students and a substitute teacher in her class, according to a campus police report cited by the Fresno Bee (http://bit.ly/ZxHHy7).
Gomez said Calhoun grabbed her arm and used his forearm to pin her neck against a wall, so she punched him in the face. Calhoun then lifted the 5-foot, 101-pound Gomez and slammed her onto the ground before students pulled him away, according to the report.
Calhoun was cited for misdemeanor battery and ordered to appear in court on June 19.
It did not appear that Gomez was cited. At least six students and a substitute instructor support her account of the fight, according to the report.
But Calhoun's attorney, Roger Nuttall, said Gomez started the fight.
"This wouldn't have happened if she hadn't lashed out," Nuttall said.
Gomez's attorney, Catherine Campbell, disputed that, saying Calhoun attacked her client.
"He was out of control," she said.
The dispute began at the end of a Chicano-Latino Studies class that Gomez was in. The class, which was being run by substitute teacher Michael Medrano, was running late, and Calhoun was angry because his Survey of American Education class was scheduled to begin, according to an account of the incident given to police by students and Medrano.
Gomez said Calhoun yelled at the students, who were taking an exam, to leave. Gomez cursed at Calhoun after she turned in her exam, she said.
He then followed her into the hallway, where he demanded her name, told her she couldn't talk to him like that and grabbed her arm, Gomez said.
Kathy Bonilla, a spokeswoman for the college, confirmed on Tuesday that Calhoun has been placed on paid administrative leave.
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