Doug Fecher, trustee and chairman of the WSU presidential search committee, said another member of the committee discovered the information after Shields became a finalist for the Wright State job. Shields was asked about it during his campus visit last Thursday, Fecher said.
“We just need to find out what’s going on,” Fecher said of the allegation. “That’s why these on-campus visits are so important for the vetting process.”
Reached Wednesday, Shields said he couldn’t comment on the lawsuit or allegation that his administration retaliated against the professor.
“I’m not defensive about this at all, but we’re in the middle of a process and it would be really inappropriate for me to comment on it,” he said.
The allegation of retaliation by top administrators at UW-Plattville came from Sabina Burton, a criminal justice professor at the school, which is a branch of the vast University of Wisconsin system. Burton has a website called universitycorruption.com and has used it to update her case. Another website operated by a non-profit, Wisconsin Watchdog, has also written extensively about the situation.
Burton has said she assisted the student in 2012 after the woman told her a professor gave her a note that said “Call me tonight,” along with the professor’s personal phone number. The professor later said he did it as part of a social experiment, according to Burton’s lawsuit.
It’s not clear if the university took action against the professor, although he is no longer employed there.
Burton filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the university that was dismissed. She then appealed on Sept. 27, 2016, and that appeal is before the U.S. 7th District Court of Appeals.
About three months later, on Dec. 19, interim provost Elizabeth Throop and Melissa Gromley, interim dean of the college of liberal arts and education, sought to have her dismissed. In their complaint letter to Shields, the two administrators say Burton disclosed “personal, confidential employment information about her colleagues contrary to university ethics practices.”
The complaint also says Burton “repeatedly intimidated and harassed her co-workers and ignored prior directives to cease this behavior, and she continues, against prior directive, to involve UW-Plattville’s students in her personal grievances.”
Shields responded on Jan. 3 with a letter to Burton that began the termination process.
“I have reviewed the complaint and the attachments and I find that these allegations are substantial,” he wrote in the letter. “I am therefore initiating the dismissal process.”
Saying substantial harm could be done to the university if she remained a member of the faculty, Shields placed her on paid leave pending a final decision into her status by the Board of Regents.
The high-profile nature of the allegations raises questions about why the search committee was kept in the dark about Burton’s lawsuit. In interviews with Wisconsin Watchdog and on her own website, Burton has been highly critical of Shields’ administration.
Burton could not be reached on Wednesday.
The three finalists for the Wright State job were chosen from 61 applicants.
WSU hired a private company, Academic Search, and Wright State officials have said they expected to pay the search firm around $120,000 for their work in the selection process.
Fecher said Shields remains a candidate and will be treated fairly during that process.
“It depends on what we find out to be the truth,” he said. “We are trying to be fair to the candidate and to the university. That will all be part of our process.”
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