[Vision2020] False Charges of Sexual Harassment Ruin UI Professor's Career

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Nick
Thanks for your work on this. These things can get a way out of hand as the McMartin case and what happened at Winatchee show. I know that some cases go unreported, but never the less the evidence should be beyond doubt.
Roger


-----Original Message-----
From: "Nicholas Gier" <ngier006 at gmail.com>
To: vision2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Date: 10/27/13 22:40
Subject: [Vision2020] False Charges of Sexual Harassment Ruin UI Professor's Career

 
Dear Visionaries:
I've been wanting to make this case public for over a year, and I finally have the 
attorney's permission to do so.  She has decided that we should not release the 
names right now, but reporters will soon have access to the court documents.  The 
local faculty union will meet on Nov. 7 to vote on another $2,000 for the case.


False Charges of Sexual Harassment Ruin UI Professor's Career


by Nick Gier, President of the Idaho Federation of Teachers


Damage could result to the career and reputation of any person
who is accused of sexual harassment falsely or not in good faith.


-Faculty Staff Handbook, Section3220 C-2, University of Idaho


The University of Idaho has recently experienced some high profile sexual harassment cases. Unfortunately, heightened vigilance on the part of UI officials has led to the termination of an innocent professor.
In order to protect his identity, the faculty member is simply referred to as "the Professor."  In May of 2011, the Professor hired a research assistant (RA). It soon became apparent that the RA had overstated her qualifications on her resume and was not qualified to perform her experiments. 
However, instead of terminating the RA's employment, the Professor decided to give her extra training, and, eventually, an extension for her formal evaluation. On September 19, 2011, both signed an evaluation in which the RA admitted that she was still deficient in her duties. 
Fearful of losing her job, the RA went to the Professor's supervisor and accused him of sexual harassment. Based solely on the RA's charges, which were never put in writing, the Professor was labeled a sexual harasser and was suspended.
Sometime before the first of November, 2011, a colleague called the Professor to say that the RA told people at a party that the Professor was "going to prison." On November 2, 2011, the Professor e-mailed the UI administration to complain about this violation of the confidentiality to which both parties agreed. This misdeed was ignored, and the RA was transferred to the UI Moscow campus where she is still employed. 
During the dismissal hearing on April 21, 2012, the UI provided the RA with an attorney, but the Professor had to hire his own counsel. UI policy is very clear that the university attorney represents the university and not its employees.  Additionally, university counsel may not advise persons who have a claim against the university or one of its employees. 
Unfortunately, the dismissal hearing board found that a probationary employee, who had padded her resume, and who, with an UI official's encouragement, falsified her research notebook, was believable, but decided that the Professor and his wife were not credible. Former UI President Duane Nellis fired the Professor in June of 2012. 
The Professor waited eight months for his appeal to be scheduled. A panel of five faculty met on March 21, 2013, and they voted 3-2 that the evidence against the Professor was not enough to warrant dismissal. Here is a summary of their findings:
·          * Some of the evidence the university administration presented at the termination hearing was known to have been falsified.
·            *There is an alternative and plausible explanation for virtually every single allegation made against the Professor. 
·           * The panel worried that the case was investigated during a time of heightened sensitivity because of the two previous high profile cases.
·           * The UI should have a high standard for the evidence it presents against one of its faculty, and it should discard it once it has been proven either false or unreliable. 
     After another seven month's delay, Interim President Don Burnett has not responded to the appeal decision, and he has rejected a very reasonable offer of settlement.
Everywhere the Professor turned for comparable employment, the false charges  arrived before he could apply. He is now in a post-doctoral position with his former employers, who know very well that he is innocent.
Do the Professor's constitutional rights mean anything? These are the questions that the Idaho Federal District Court will decide. The Professor has retained Coeur d'Alene attorney April Linscott  to represent him in a wrongful termination suit against the UI.     
Currently, the Professor's applications for research funding are in limbo because of questions about what happened in Idaho. Early in 2011 the Professor received a 4-year $7.8 million research grant that he obtained with five other scientists, and his share of the funds and data generated in his lab are now being used by a woman who testified against him. Part of the lawsuit charges theft of intellectual property.
    The local and state chapters of the American Federation of Teachers have committed $6,000 to the Professor's case, and we anticipate that our national office will also grant substantial legal aid.  We will stand by the Professor until his good name is cleared, and when he is able to receive compensation for lost wages, $30,000 in unpaid attorneys' fees, and emotional damage.
Nick Gier is President of the Idaho Federation of Teachers, AFT/AFL-CIO.
  
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