A state watchdog says the University of Minnesota has refused to comply with an agreement reached with the federal government by failing to establish an appeals process in cases of employee sexual misconduct.
The report issued Thursday by the Office of the Legislative Auditor examined the U’s procedures for investigating sexual misconduct by employees, following numerous high-profile cases.
It concludes that the university’s Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action office has done “a good job” resolving complaints against employees and that policies largely comply with state and federal laws.
However, it asserts the U must add an appeals process in order to comply with a 2015 resolution agreement related to the gymnastics program.
In that case, a gymnast complained about unwanted touching and comments by Jim Stephenson, who once was head coach but by then was a volunteer assistant. The gymnast reported the harassing behavior took place while she was performing semi-nude modeling for Stephenson, who also works as an artist.
The gymnast claimed that after the university banned Stephenson because of her complaints, his wife, then-head coach Meg Stephenson, retaliated by ignoring her at practice and competitions. Meg Stephenson later was reprimanded and resigned.
The gymnast received $250,000 from the university.
Her complaint sparked a federal civil rights investigation, which the university resolved in September 2015.
As part of that deal, the U agreed to make changes to its sexual harassment policy, including by creating “an appeal process for both parties conducted in an impartial manner by an impartial decision-maker.”
The audit released Thursday says the U now allows for appeals in cases against students but not those against employees.
“Although we observed that EOAA conducts its complaint resolution process in an independent and impartial manner, the University’s process for accused employees and their victims does not provide for appeal of EOAA’s decisions by an uninvolved party,” the report concluded.
The university says it’s not required to make appeals available in cases against employees and that the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights has not raised any objections, although it hasn’t approved the new policy language either.
In a written response to the audit, President Eric Kaler disagreed that the resolution agreement requires an appeals process in cases against employees. But he said the university is “open to considering your recommended enhancement to our processes.”
Commenting on the audit’s overall findings, Kaler wrote that “we believe the positive findings reflect the University’s serious commitment to properly addressing sexual misconduct.”
SIX QUIT OR WERE FIRED LAST YEAR
The U in December updated its sexual misconduct policies. The audit found that the revisions made the information easier to find, better defined misconduct, offered greater detail about the investigative process and encouraged more reporting.
The auditor, too, was satisfied with the outcomes of cases.
During the 2016-17 school year, they found, the EOAA took 37 reports of sexual misconduct by employees at the flagship Twin Cities campus, which has some 24,000 staff.
The EOAA investigated 19 cases, provided consultation on nine others and dismissed the rest for lack of jurisdiction or because the accusers were unwilling to proceed.
Eleven of the 18 completed investigations resulted in a finding that the employee violated U policy. Six employees resigned or were dismissed and the other five were otherwise reprimanded.
“Based on our review of Fiscal Year 2017 case files, we conclude that EOAA has done a good job resolving reports of sexual misconduct against employees,” the report states.