Colleges that rushed to institute one-sided investigation procedures for sexual impropriety must have foreseen that they would be used against administrators as well as students and faculty.
UC-Berkeley’s Graham Fleming, who resigned as vice chancellor for research last week, is now claiming the school violated his due process when it investigated him for “inappropriately touching” a former junior colleague and sending her “overly affectionate emails.”
The Daily Californian reports that Fleming called the school’s report on him “riddled with inconsistencies, mischaracterization of the facts, … distortion of witness statements, as well as the selective omission of relevant information.”
Fleming was apparently judged by the “preponderance of evidence” standard:
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, [the UC Office of the President] concluded that Fleming “more likely than not” violated the policies.
A news release from public relations consultant Sam Singer, who works with Fleming’s lawyer, said Fleming denied the charges of harassment made by [Diane] Leite and resigned under protest, saying UCOP “mishandled” charges made against him in the investigation.
“(UCOP) bungled the investigation,” Singer said. “Fleming’s legal counsel provided ample evidence that the allegations are false.”
Leite, who filed the complaint against Fleming, left the school under her own cloud:
According to Singer, Fleming was first made aware of the allegations last year, two years after Leite was fired for allegedly violating university policies after she increased the salary of one of her employees with whom she was having a sexual relationship.
Fleming called his relationship with Leite a “long-standing and affectionate friendship” that was never romantic.
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