She deserved to be fired. Case dismissed.
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/05/29/lawsuit-university-cincinnati-honored-sex-offender-forced-out-official-who-investigated/1259798001/
Lawsuit: UC honored sex offender, then forced out official who investigated him
The University of Cincinnati's former Title IX coordinator was forced to resign after she raised concerns about honoring a student who was a registered sex offender, a lawsuit says.
Andrea Goldblum had been UC's Title IX coordinator for nine months when the lawsuit says she was forced to resign in March 2019. Goldblum had started an informal investigation into what officials knew about the student before he was admitted to the university and before he was honored as part of graduation in December 2018, according to the lawsuit filed this week in federal court in Cincinnati.
The action taken against her was directly related to her investigation and reporting of possible Title IX violations by the university, the lawsuit says, "and was designed to punish and intimidate Goldblum from publicly disclosing potential misconduct by UC officials."
Lori Ross, UC's vice president for legal affairs and general counsel, said in a statement that the lawsuit "is without merit."
"We will present the relevant facts and evidence through the established legal proceedings," Ross said.
The case surrounds an article published online by the College of Arts and Sciences, which said the student, 24-year-old William Houston, was honored at graduation for "overcoming major challenges."
Houston was one of several students selected to receive "triumph cords" at graduation, signifying they had overcome adversity. He had been nominated by faculty.
The article did not mention Houston's 2015 conviction in Wood County for sexually assaulting a female student the previous year when he was a sophomore at Bowling Green State University.
Houston pleaded no contest to gross sexual imposition and was sentenced to three years of probation, court records show. He is a registered sex offender in Ohio.
The student who wrote the article and university staff who reviewed it were not aware of Houston's criminal background, university spokeswoman M.B. Reilly told The Enquirer in February.
Reilly said Houston answered questions honestly on his application about his criminal conviction. There was a review by admissions and student affairs officials, she said.
Houston was monitored and mentored throughout his time at UC, Reilly said, which spanned the fall of 2016 to December 2018. UC police were notified of his history and kept tabs on him during his time as a student, she said.
According to the lawsuit, Goldblum was concerned that promoting Houston "fostered the creation of a sexually hostile environment and made female…students vulnerable to sexual assault."
As Title IX coordinator, Goldblum was responsible for overseeing an office that investigates complaints and assists students impacted by sexual violence and harassment.
She wanted to submit a letter to the school newspaper offering resources to students "who may have negative responses to UC giving an award to a convicted sex offender," the lawsuit says.
But Bleuzette Marshall, the university’s vice president for equity, inclusion and community impact, deemed the letter "unsatisfactory," the lawsuit says, and told Goldblum not to send it.
On Feb. 12, a day after the student newspaper published an article about the backlash surrounding the article featuring Houston, Goldblum emailed her letter to the newspaper. The lawsuit says she did that to fulfill her role as Title IX coordinator and to provide resources to anyone affected by the article. It says she notified Marshall in advance.
The letter was never published, and the lawsuit says Marshall was "angry" Goldblum had sent it.
According to the lawsuit, although university officials initially didn't alter the Arts and Sciences profile featuring Houston, the section on him ultimately was removed.
The lawsuit says Goldblum started an informal investigation into what university officials knew about Houston’s background before he was admitted as a student and before he was given the award.
On March 15, the lawsuit says Goldblum was called into a meeting in Marshall's office. Also at the meeting were a human resources representative and a police officer. Goldblum was told to resign or be fired, the lawsuit says.
She resigned, although the lawsuit says she wasn't given a reasonable time to decide what to do.
Goldblum's attorney, Josh Engel, said in an interview that the investigation could have found university officials did nothing wrong, that it was appropriate to admit Houston and give him the award. Under the law, he said, Goldblum can't be punished for looking into it.
"She was terminated because she was asking too many questions, in our view, about this matter," Engel said.
Updated 22 hours ago
Addendum: Goldblum responded to me on LinkedIn, and I find her to be dishonest:
Actually, Derek, this was not about denying students any rights or assuming someone is a danger. It was not about automatically accepting or not accepting convicted felons or registered sex offenders. Instead it was about processes that Cincinnati did not have in place for asking the right questions and doing a fair and complete risk assessment and basing decisions on those.
It was also about ensuring people who have been harmed being offered the resources they need and that we were required to provide under federal law. Finally, it is about not trying to sweep things under the rug, due to short-term thinking.
I am no longer at UC because I suffered retaliation for complying with a federal civil rights law, which was my job description, after all. University of Cincinnati is the disgrace for engaging in retaliation and for ignoring federal law and the needs of its faculty, staff and students.
Making assumptions based on brief media articles or social media is always a chancy thing. There is always more to the story. I am glad I have the opportunity to clarify this for you.
Addendum: Goldblum responded to me on LinkedIn, and I find her to be dishonest:
Actually, Derek, this was not about denying students any rights or assuming someone is a danger. It was not about automatically accepting or not accepting convicted felons or registered sex offenders. Instead it was about processes that Cincinnati did not have in place for asking the right questions and doing a fair and complete risk assessment and basing decisions on those.
It was also about ensuring people who have been harmed being offered the resources they need and that we were required to provide under federal law. Finally, it is about not trying to sweep things under the rug, due to short-term thinking.
I am no longer at UC because I suffered retaliation for complying with a federal civil rights law, which was my job description, after all. University of Cincinnati is the disgrace for engaging in retaliation and for ignoring federal law and the needs of its faculty, staff and students.
Making assumptions based on brief media articles or social media is always a chancy thing. There is always more to the story. I am glad I have the opportunity to clarify this for you.
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