A state audit of Joseph Castro’s handling of Fresno State harassment complaints? Good idea
A call by a Fresno Republican Assemblymember that the state auditor investigate how sexual harassment complaints in the California State University are handled is on the mark and should be done as soon as possible.
His request is a reaction to news that broke last week that while Joseph I. Castro was president of Fresno State, he kept quiet a dozen charges of sexual harassment that had been allegedly committed by Frank Lamas, whom Castro hired in 2014 to be vice president of student affairs.
According to a USA Today report, Lamas stared at women’s breasts, touched women inappropriately, made sexist remarks and berated, belittled and retaliated against employees. The alleged harassment occurred over a six-year period. For his part, Lamas has strongly denied the allegations, which would be violations of Title IX, the federal law banning sexual harassment and discrimination.
Castro never formally disciplined Lamas. Instead, he praised Lamas in annual performance reviews, endorsed him for a prestigious lifetime achievement award and quietly paid Lamas to leave the university after an investigation was launched.
What finally triggered that formal investigation was a doctoral student’s Title IX complaint that Lamas, then her boss, promised a promotion if she provided sexual favors. That investigation found Lamas had engaged in harassing behavior with numerous employees.
Castro worked out a deal with Lamas that had him quietly resign at the end of December in 2020. He was paid his $260,000 salary and received full benefits and a letter of recommendation. Lamas agreed to never again work for the CSU.
Several weeks after Lamas left, Castro was hired as the new chancellor of the 23-campus CSU system, one of public education’s highest jobs in the nation.
Asking state auditor
Assemblymember Jim Patterson on Monday said he would ask colleagues on the state Joint Committee on Legislative Audit to seek the state auditor’s help. Patterson is one of 14 Assembly and state Senate members who form the panel.
The state auditor is an independent branch of the government that investigates problems brought to its attention by legislators or whistle blowers.
The issue now, Patterson said, is that the CSU has a broken process when it comes to sexual harassment claims, and should not be allowed to investigate itself. “We have to fix a system that unfortunately is set up to protect itself,” Patterson said in an online news conference.
He cited not only the Lamas case, but one at San Jose State as well. That involved a swim coach who had reported sexual harassment of women athletes by a trainer. The university’s athletic director then retaliated against the coach. Twelve years after first reporting the alleged assaults, the coach last month received $225,000 from the university and kept his job.
Rather than blame Castro outright — Patterson stated his respect for him several times — the Assembly member said the problem lies in how the CSU deals with complaints and settlements.
Castro said as much in a statement issued after USA Today broke its story last week: “One of the main challenges facing us in this situation was the inability to formally investigate all but the 2019 complaint,” he said. “While we took steps to counsel and improve the climate based on the numerous informal or anonymous complaints, we faced a series of administrative hurdles in making a change until we had a formal complaint that could be investigated.
“The unfortunate reality is that public universities face more complex termination procedures and significant civil liability in terminating an employee without documented evidence.”
These “administrative hurdles” are what Patterson is focused on. He said the Legislature could change laws governing how complaints get reviewed.
Democrats’ backing
Fresno’s other Assemblymember, Democrat Dr. Joaquin Arambula, backs calls from other Democrats in the Assembly and Senate for independent investigations. That’s important because Democratic backing for the scrutiny is crucial, since the party has a supermajority in the Legislature, and Democrats decide what gets done.
As CSU chancellor, Castro is the ultimate authority overseeing efforts to keep the universities in conformance with Title IX. Given the accounts that he mishandled the Lamas matter, Castro should voluntarily step aside from handling anything related to sexual harassment and discrimination; another CSU administrator should take those duties over for now.
Castro remains beloved by many in Fresno for his “Be Bold” charge as university president. But a public rally last weekend over the Lamas case, in which Castro was criticized, showed that trust in his leadership is very much shaken. An independent investigation by the state auditor could help start repairing that image.
The ultimate goal is obvious: That students and employees at all CSU campuses feel safe, valued and that their voices will be heard whenever harassment occurs.
Update: Assemblymember Arambula clarified his position on investigations following the first online publication of this editorial.
This story was originally published February 8, 2022 at 5:00 AM.