Fresno State president establishes task force in the wake of sexual harassment scandal
In a video posted to YouTube, Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval announced the creation of a task force led by an outside consulting firm to assess the university’s Title IX, bullying, harassment, and discrimination policies.
The announcement comes after a USA Today investigation revealed former Fresno State president and current California State University Chancellor Joseph Castro wrote a letter of recommendation and approved a settlement for a top administrator accused of sexual harassment.
The new task force will assess policies, procedures, training, and support systems regarding Title IX, harassment, bullying, and discrimination. The task force will include university staff, students, and faculty, Jiménez-Sandoval said.
“I want our community to know that sexual harassment, bullying, and misogyny have no place on our campus,” he said in the video.
Jiménez-Sandoval pledged to rebuild trust with the campus community and listen to the community’s needs to keep the campus safe and healthy for employees and students.
In a separate message to students and faculty this week, Jiménez-Sandoval said he was “deeply hurt” that community members “suffered greatly” in connection with sexual harassment allegations that surfaced in the USA Today story.
“The details of these events have been unsettling, and I want to emphasize unequivocally that Dr. Lamas’ conduct described in the allegations was unacceptable and inexcusable, and goes against the values we hold most dear as a campus community,” Jiménez-Sandoval said in a public message Monday.
The USA Today report described how the university’s human resources or Title IX offices 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.
Title IX is part of federal education law that forbids discrimination based on gender at institutions that receive federal financial assistance. The law also applies to incidents of sexual harassment and sexual assault.
Lamas has denied any wrongdoing but, in his settlement in 2020, agreed never again to seek employment in the CSU system. The settlement, finalized by Castro and university counsel Darryl Hamm, included paying Lamas a full year’s salary of $260,000. The settlement also provided 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 recent exclusive interview with The Bee, Lamas said his career is in tatters and maintained his innocence, alleging the investigation process was unfair. He said the scandal has been “horrible for me. It’s horrible for my family.”
This story was originally published February 8, 2022 at 5:32 PM.