Opinion ID: 4200471
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Investigation and Termination

Text: Reck met with Grant to discuss Guillaume’s recommendation for dismissal on September 1, 2010. Grant denied all charges and alleged Guillaume was retaliating against him for filing the affirmative action complaint against Williams. Because of Grant’s allegations of discrimination and the contradictory assertions by Guillaume and Grant regarding Grant’s credentials, the University, through its counsel, hired an independent investigation firm, Klink & Company (“Klink”). Reck informed Grant in writing that Klink had been retained to conduct its own review of Grant’s curriculum vitae (“CV”) No. 16-1958 5 and application materials. Meanwhile, Grant provided a 42page response to Reck regarding Guillaume’s recommendation for dismissal. However, he did not include any new documentation to substantiate his credentials. Reck received Klink’s final report on February 22, 2011. Klink noted that Grant had impeded its investigation by failing to provide consent to verify his employment and educational credentials. Klink concluded that many of Grant’s credentials were “vague,” “misleading,” or “otherwise incorrect.” For example, in his 1998 CV, Grant represented that he was a lecturer or instructor at California State College, Howard University, the Armed Forces Institute, and Boston State College. Grant eventually admitted he did not actually work for these institutions, but rather taught workshops lasting only two or three days on their campuses. But Klink was unable to find any evidence to substantiate Grant’s claims that he was a lecturer, instructor, or workshop leader at any of these institutions. Klink detailed several other discrepancies, including Grant’s representation at the time of his application that he was enrolled and pursuing a PhD at Columbia University, representations on his 1998 CV regarding his master’s degree, claimed fellowships and law clerk experience, and discrepancies relating to a letter of recommendation. 1 On March 8, Reck provided the Klink report to Grant, who, on April 25, responded with a 43-page response denying its findings. Grant again failed to provide documentation to support his representations or to contradict the report’s findings. Thereafter, Reck made several attempts to meet with 1 We do not detail each discrepancy found by Klink, as all the details are not necessary to complete our analysis. 6 No. 16-1958 Grant. On September 13, 2011, after more than twenty failed attempts to contact Grant, Reck informed Grant that she found he had “engaged in serious personal and professional misconduct[,]” which “present[ed] a severe threat to the academic integrity and reputation of the University.” R. 110–10 at 2. 2 Under the University’s Academic Handbook, personal misconduct includes dishonest conduct “not limited to, false accusation of misconduct, forgery, alteration or misuse of any university document, record or identification; and giving to a university official information known to be false.” R. 119–6 at 36. Reck notified Grant that he was dismissed from the faculty effective December 31, 2011. The decision to terminate Grant was never submitted to the University Senate Promotion, Tenure and Reappointment Committee. Reck informed Grant that, pursuant to the University’s Academic Handbook, he could request a hearing. The next day, Grant suggested that he planned to appeal Reck’s decision. On September 26, 2011, Reck reminded Grant that he should submit his appeal as soon as possible to allow for a hearing before his date of dismissal. On December 19, 2011, just days before his December 31 dismissal date, Grant submitted a 283page grievance to the Faculty Board of Review (“Faculty Board”). But, again, Grant provided no documentation to substantiate his credentials or dispute Klink’s findings. Beginning in January 2012, the Faculty Board gathered information from Reck and Grant and attempted to schedule a hearing. Eight months later, on August 1, 2012, Grant confirmed with the Faculty Board Chair that he still wished to 2 All record cites are to the record in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Case No. 1:13-cv-00826-TWP-DML. No. 16-1958 7 have a hearing in his case. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts to find a mutually agreeable time for the hearing, Grant terminated the Faculty Board process on August 28, 2012 by indicating that he no longer wished to have a hearing.