Cal State changes policy, requests outside probe after USA TODAY investigation – USA TODAY
The California State University and its Board of Trustees revised a key policy and requested an external investigation into Fresno State officials’ handling of sexual harassment, bullying and retaliation complaints against a senior administrator, the board announced in a press release Tuesday evening.
The announcement comes four weeks after a USA TODAY investigation revealed then-Fresno State President Joseph Castro mishandled the complaints over a six-year period, culminating in a lucrative settlement agreement for the administrator, vice president of student affairs Frank Lamas, days before Castro’s promotion to chancellor of the CSU system.
Castro resigned as chancellor on Feb. 17, two weeks after USA TODAY’s investigation sparked outrage and pressure from lawmakers, students, faculty, union leaders, and newspaper editorial boards, many of whom called for him to step down.
Read the full investigation: Castro mishandled sexual harassment complaints. Now he leads all 23 Cal State colleges.
“It is important that we understand how campus leaders at Fresno State responded to the workplace concerns about Dr. Frank Lamas,” said CSU board chair Lillian Kimbell in the announcement. “We will investigate the past to reveal potential new facts, learn and take appropriate action.”
The chancellor’s office also is finalizing a new systemwide policy intended to prevent administrators like Lamas from keeping their jobs after being found responsible for serious misconduct, said Steve Relyea, who took over as acting chancellor after Castro’s resignation.
Although an internal investigation in 2020 found Lamas responsible for sexually harassing a doctoral student who worked for him, Castro said he chose not to fire or discipline Lamas because he had “retreat rights” in his contract. Retreat rights are meant to provide faculty members who give up tenure to take administrative positions, such as dean and provost, the ability to “retreat” back to the faculty if the administrative position does not work out.
Lamas was not a tenured faculty member when he accepted the vice president job at Castro’s behest in 2014, but he negotiated retreat rights into his contract.
In response to questions from USA TODAY, Castro and Fresno State attorney Darryl Hamm said the retreat rights in Lamas’ contract might have enabled him to return to the faculty even if Castro had tried to fire him. Instead, they said, they chose to quietly negotiate a settlement agreement with Lamas to avoid a potentially costly lawsuit from him and ensure he would never return to the CSU.
The settlement gave Lamas $260,000 and a clean record in exchange for his retirement, USA TODAY’s investigation revealed. Although the agreement banned Lamas from working at the CSU again, it promised him a letter of recommendation from Castro to help him find work elsewhere.
Hamm and Debbie Adishian-Astone, Fresno State’s vice president of administration, told USA TODAY on Feb. 2 that after the news organization’s reporting exposed the issue, the campus will include “caveats” to retreat rights language in future contracts. The new caveats clarify that retreat rights will be revoked if a person is found responsible in a Title IX or other misconduct investigation.
“Retreat rights are very important and valuable to our community,” Relyea said in the press release. “That opportunity to retreat should be extended to individuals in good standing with the CSU, not to individuals who have engaged in significant misconduct. The policy needs systemwide clarity, consistency, and modernization, thus we are reforming it.”
Despite resigning as CSU chancellor, Castro has retreat rights at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, the board announced on its website on Feb. 18, after USA TODAY began asking questions about them. Castro had yet to inform Cal Poly whether he intends to exercise them, according to the announcement.
Mike Uhlenkamp, a CSU chancellor’s office spokesperson, told USA TODAY he is expecting the board to enter into a settlement agreement with Castro so that he does not exercise his retreat rights.
The board’s announcement is the latest measure it has taken to try to rebuild trust with the CSU community after USA TODAY’s investigation.
The board previously announced it would hire law firm Cozen O’Connor to conduct a comprehensive assessment of Title IX practices, training and services across all 23 CSU campuses, starting at Fresno State. Title IX is the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education.
According to the board, the systemwide assessment’s goal is “to provide insights, recommendations, and resources to help advance CSU’s Title IX and other civil rights training, awareness, prevention, intervention, compliance, accountability, and support systems.
“The CSU is initiating a Title IX assessment across the nation’s largest public four-year higher education system to ensure the health, safety and welfare of our students, faculty and staff,” Relyea said. “We will continue to fortify our commitment to be leaders of Title IX innovation and response.”
Kenny Jacoby is a reporter for USA TODAY’s investigations team who covers universities, sports, policing and sexual violence. Email him at kjacoby@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @kennyjacoby.
