CSU Chancellor Castro won’t resign, open to inquiry into handling of sex misconduct claims

California State University Chancellor Joseph I. Castro said on Friday that he would not consider resigning amid pointed questions regarding his handling of sexual harassment claims against a member of his cabinet when president at Fresno State.

His answer to that was a flat “No,” while saying that he was open to an investigation into the matter, a decision that would be made by the CSU Board of Trustees. Castro also apologized to victims of harassment by his former vice president for student affairs at Fresno State, Frank Lamas. The comments were made during a short interview with The Fresno Bee on Friday afternoon.

The university’s human resources department or the Title IX office received at least 12 complaints against Lamas over a six-year period including allegations that he stared at women’s breasts, touched them inappropriately, made sexist remarks and created a hostile or abusive work environment while never formally disciplined by the university, according to a report in USA Today.

Castro instead praised Lamas in annual performance reviews, endorsed him for a prestigious lifetime achievement award and quietly paid Lamas to leave the university after a 2019 investigation into a claim that he implied he would help an employee get a promotion in exchange for sexual favors.

As part of a mediated settlement, Lamas retired Dec. 31, 2020, receiving a $260,000 payment, a full year’s salary, and assurances that Fresno State would help him find work elsewhere with future reference requests directed to the Fresno State president’s office and Castro.

In a statement through the CSU on Thursday, Castro cited administrative hurdles and an inability to formally investigate all but the 2019 complaint, and steps taken to address allegations against Lamas. Those included a climate assessment of Student Affairs and bringing in an outside professional trainer.

There were no complaints for a period of more than two years, from 2016 to 2019 when the university’s Title IX office received a complaint that triggered a formal investigation.

“When I was president, I did my very best to hold regular open forums, to hear directly from students, faculty, staff, and the community,” Castro said. “I also had an anonymous feedback page where they could share thoughts.

“Despite that, it does look like there may have been some employees who were hesitant to share their candid views and I want them to know that I’m sorry that they felt unsafe to do that. I tried my very best with (Vice President for Administration and Finance Deborah Adishian-Astone) and others to create the most supportive atmosphere ever and, clearly, for them they may have felt like they could not share specific information. I did my best with Vice President Astone and my colleagues to act quickly upon the information that was given to me.

Castro open to investigation into handling of allegations

“Most of these complaints were informal complaints, so to speak, and we took action together to address those in a variety of ways. Things were improving, as far as I could tell. I regret that these things occurred and I did my very best, as soon as I had the investigation completed to facilitate his departure from Fresno State.”

But Castro did allow that harassment victims might by that point have decided against pursuing potential allegations, due to a lack of action by the university.

“I did everything I could with my cabinet and others at the campus to create a welcoming, supportive environment,” Castro said. “As I mentioned, regularly holding open forums where people could come and bring up anything, could send me notes through my feedback page. We would look at those and act upon them as appropriate, and as soon as I received complaints, we took action in the most aggressive way possible.

“As you know, In October 2019, when we had the Title IX complaint, we formally investigated that immediately while he was on leave and as soon as that report was concluded and after he had appealed it, we moved forward to facilitate his departure.”

Castro at this point appears to have the support of the CSU Board of Trustees, though state Sen. Connie M. Leyva, D-Chino, and others have called for an investigation into the the handling of sexual harassment claims.

“I appreciate the forthright nature with which Chancellor Castro has addressed the allegations and concerns raised in the recent USA Today story. The Chancellor’s willingness to be apologetic and reflect candidly on his own actions is the type of leadership we should seek,” Board of Trustees Chair Lillian Kimbell said Thursday in a statement.

“As chancellor, I have the opportunity to learn from this valuable lesson and to try to figure out ways to remove barriers to enable us to have workplaces free of harassment and that’s something that I will be working on very aggressively with the Board of Trustees and the (campus) presidents,” Castro said.

“Part of it has to do with additional training, or presidents and other managers to understand very clearly how to navigate these complicated issues in the most effective way, to look at our policies and to figure out whether there are adjustments that we can make to create a safer work environment for everybody and, again, I do apologize to those victims of the harassment by Dr. Lamas.”

Lamas has denied any wrongdoing.

This story was originally published February 4, 2022 at 5:28 PM.