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[sinatra]

A very good friend was recently the victim of attempted intimidation and defamation at the hands of his former dean. He had applied for a position as an assistant dean about two years ago as part of an internal search on his campus. After the screening committee met with him and another candidate, the dean apparently told him that the committee picked the other candidate. A year later, that dean was bumped up to serve as an interim chancellor at another institution. The assistant dean became interim dean and my friend was tapped to serve as interim assistant dean. While reading through adjunct files in his new office a few months into the position, he found a memorandum that stated the original screening committee had nominated him unanimously for the assistant dean position earlier. He showed me a copy of the memo, and it's about as clear as it gets.

He apparently confronted his former dean about it, asking why the deception had occurred. He forwarded me a copy of the e-mail that the former dean sent to my friend and my friend's chancellor. The e-mail is blatantly intimidating in tone and attached to it is a document filled with defamatory remarks couched in the language of a former supervisor assessing his subordinate's skills. It's the most extreme thing I have seen in my twenty years in academia, personally. To make matters worse, he told me that the omsbudsman at his campus could almost not even be bothered to listen to the case, suggesting that the interim dean's feelings needed to be spared. He voluntarily left his job at that institution and was fortunate enough to recently land another position elsewhere. He's asked me for advice. I told him to consult with an employment attorney, but since the dean had discretionary power to appoint the other candidate, I doubt he'll get far.  Does anyone here have any other advice I can pass along to him?

[yellowtractor]

He voluntarily left his job at that institution and was fortunate enough to recently land another position elsewhere.

This being the case, what "advice" is possible?  I can't see any kind of actionable case here (though I'm not a lawyer).

[sinatra]

My thoughts, too, YT. I said that he should be very happy that he's out of that scene and someplace else. But if there's something further he can do, I'd like to be able to let him know.

[anthroid]

There's probably stuff he can do, but whether he should do anything is a completely different matter.

He needs to move on and let it go.  He's in, presumably, a more congenial place with a better life situation.  He can thank his lucky stars and smile knowingly whenever he encounters the Rat Dean.

[nitnat]

It is my understanding that a "screening committee" (which I assume is like a search committee) has the power to only "recommend". In most cases, the Dean or person making the final decision regarding the appointment/offer respects the recommendation. However, it is well within the Dean's (in your scenario) purview to overturn the screening committee's unanimous decision and to offer the position to someone else.

This is perhaps of little comfort to your friend...

[infopri]

It is my understanding that a "screening committee" (which I assume is like a search committee) has the power to only "recommend". In most cases, the Dean or person making the final decision regarding the appointment/offer respects the recommendation. However, it is well within the Dean's (in your scenario) purview to overturn the screening committee's unanimous decision and to offer the position to someone else.

This is perhaps of little comfort to your friend...

Unfortunately, this.  Even if the situation was actionable, then this:

There's probably stuff he can do, but whether he should do anything is a completely different matter.

I once had an actionable breach-of-contract complaint against my academic employer.  I consulted a very good lawyer (I have connections), who agreed that the administration was in breach, but who advised me against suing.  The reason?  Because, no matter how good the case (and really, no case has a guaranteed outcome), my pockets weren't as deep as the university's.  She assured me that this university, in particular, was known to draw lawsuits out, appeal all negative decisions, and do whatever else it could do to make it too expensive for plaintiffs to continue.

I'm sorry your friend's dean was such a snake, but very happy to hear that he's moved on to a better situation.  Good luck to him!

[daniel_von_flanagan]

On top of this, your "friend" should probably not have had access to the memo from the SC from his search.  When he stumbled across it he should have filed it away, pretended never to have seen it, and under no circumstances contacted the ex-dean.  That was astoundingly unprofessional. - DvF

[yellowtractor]

On top of this, your "friend" should probably not have had access to the memo from the SC from his search.  When he stumbled across it he should have filed it away, pretended never to have seen it, and under no circumstances contacted the ex-dean.  That was astoundingly unprofessional. - DvF

Agreed.  Even in worst-case scenarios.

[infopri]

On top of this, your "friend" should probably not have had access to the memo from the SC from his search.  When he stumbled across it he should have filed it away, pretended never to have seen it, and under no circumstances contacted the ex-dean.  That was astoundingly unprofessional. - DvF

Agreed.  Even in worst-case scenarios.

+1.  My prior post was addressing where things stand now, but Daniel_von_Flanagan is absolutely right as to what your friend should have done in the first place.

[sinatra]

D_V_F, YT, and infopri, I agree FWIW.

[anthroid]

On top of this, your "friend" should probably not have had access to the memo from the SC from his search.  When he stumbled across it he should have filed it away, pretended never to have seen it, and under no circumstances contacted the ex-dean.  That was astoundingly unprofessional. - DvF

When I was hired into a previous position, the search committee files were not purged.  I saw all of the written remarks from the members of my search committee; I was hired, obviously, because the vast majority of the search committee thought I was swell.  However, the fact that I saw what was written about me from one or two of the SC members was, frankly, a marker of how much trouble the unit I had been hired to head was in.  It took considerable forgiveness and determination on my part (to be honest) to move beyond what a couple of SC members said about my candidacy.  They were wrong about their assessment of my scholarly and teaching abilities, as it turns out (not surprisingly)--my teaching evals and my publication records certainly surpassed theirs in my time in that position. 

I guess the take-home lesson is:  Search committees, deans, and other administrators, never write your personal unable-to-be-sustained opinions down anywhere.  The new hire could very well find them and you'll be SOL if you want something.

[daniel_von_flanagan]

They were wrong about their assessment of my scholarly and teaching abilities, as it turns out (not surprisingly)--my teaching evals and my publication records certainly surpassed theirs in my time in that position. 

When I'm on a SC - even just looking for a junior colleague - I set the 'minimum' bar at or above me; that's how you improve as an institution.  I've often downrated candidates on productivity or experience who were well beyond me at the same level.

Of course, I'm not so freaking stupid as to put this into any kind of official written transmittal. - DvF

[resis]

On top of this, your "friend" should probably not have had access to the memo from the SC from his search.  When he stumbled across it he should have filed it away, pretended never to have seen it, and under no circumstances contacted the ex-dean.  That was astoundingly unprofessional. - DvF

I would call contacting the ex-dean stupid (what good would it accomplish?), but not necessarily unprofessional. Asking for an explanation for an administrative decision could be done in a reasonably professional way, even if it does create an uncomfortable conversation. In this case, however, there was so little to gain by contacting the former dean and there was so much to lose.

I love that the former dean, who clearly acted unprofessionally with the nature of his/her email reply, cc'd the chancellor. It's always best to let nasty characters publicly embarrass themselves rather than arranging the embarrassment yourself.

[sinatra]

UPDATE: I talked to my friend last night. I asked him what he hoped to accomplish by contacting the former dean. It turns out that I got that key detail wrong. It seems that, when he found the memo, he handed it over to the HR director. The HR director told him to report the whole incident to the chancellor. He spoke with the chancellor and said that, as far as he was concerned, the matter was done and had told the chancellor as much. The next day, when he came into work, the former dean had written the e-mail to him and cc'd the chancellor. It was at that point that he went to the ombudsperson. This understanding of events kind of makes me a little more sympathetic to the whole situation. It also gives me a little more pause. I work for a great dean right now. But from my own experience and reading others' here in the fora, I know there are a lot of these kinds of deans out there. Seriously, what motivates these people? Is it just blind power and ambition?

[sugaree]

UPDATE: I talked to my friend last night. I asked him what he hoped to accomplish by contacting the former dean. It turns out that I got that key detail wrong. It seems that, when he found the memo, he handed it over to the HR director. The HR director told him to report the whole incident to the chancellor. He spoke with the chancellor and said that, as far as he was concerned, the matter was done and had told the chancellor as much. The next day, when he came into work, the former dean had written the e-mail to him and cc'd the chancellor. It was at that point that he went to the ombudsperson. This understanding of events kind of makes me a little more sympathetic to the whole situation. It also gives me a little more pause. I work for a great dean right now. But from my own experience and reading others' here in the fora, I know there are a lot of these kinds of deans out there. Seriously, what motivates these people? Is it just blind power and ambition?

Given what you've described of this situation, I imagine embarrassment and a bruised ego (or CYA) had more to do with it than ambition.