University deals with sexual harassment complaints

Charles Rivet's last day on the University payroll was Feb. 22.

Rivet, former Spanish instructor, was accused of making verbal sexual advances and touching one of his students inappropriately in his office in 2007.

Kristen Barnes, University student, reported Rivet to the Office of Human Resources in 2007, citing her professor made inappropriate and sexually suggestive comments including, "You have a very nice body" and "If I were not married, I would like someone like you," according to the civil lawsuit she filed.

Barnes is one of five students who filed a complaint alleging sexual harassment against a University employee in the last two years in the Office of Human Resources, according to Marian Caillier, Human Resources associate vice chancellor.

After her fourth tutoring session, Rivet told his student his wife was out of town, and he was horny, and then he put his hand on Barnes' leg, the lawsuit said.

Rivet continued to teach at the University through December 2008.

Guillermo Ferreyra, Dean of the Arts and Sciences College, said the complaints about Rivet were brought to him in 2007, and the decision was made to let him go. Ferreyra said he was part of the process that reported Rivet to the chancellor and the LSU Board of Supervisors.

But Rivet was allowed to teach for another year because he was given a one-year due notice,  Ferreyra said — contracts require a one-year notice if the contract will not be renewed. Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures interim chair, John Pizer, sent

Rivet a letter Feb. 22, 2008 notifying him his employment would end a year later.

Ferreyra would not confirm if Rivet was separated from the University because of the complaint made in Human Resources' office.

Rivet told The Daily Reveille he was falsely accused, and there was no case against him.

Barnes' lawyer, Mark Wolfe, refused to comment on his client's case, and Barnes also declined comment. The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's office served the lawsuit to the University and Rivet on March 9, and no responses were filed as of March 19.

The University cannot comment on litigation, said Kristine Calongne, University spokeswoman, in an e-mail. The University would also not release individual student complaints, citing constitutional privacy rights and because the federal Family Educational Privacy Rights Act includes educational records, said Lloyd Lunceford, attorney for Taylor, Porter, Brooks & Phillips who represents the University.

RECENT LAWSUITS AGAINST THE UNIVERSITY

According to Vickie Jones, Louisiana Office of Risk Management executive staff officer, 67 lawsuits were filed against the University in the past five years, and four of these lawsuits involved sexual harassment — that number doesn't include Barnes. One of the four cases is closed, and three are still open, Jones said.

In the past five years, the Office of Risk Management paid $3,849,296 for all the lawsuits against the University, and $104,410 for the closed sexual harassment lawsuit. Pending cases are not included in the report.

The State Office of Risk Management pays for all these fees, and no student fees are used.

None of the four cases involved students, Jones said.

Barnes said in the lawsuit the Office of Human Resources did not treat her fairly. She claims the Human Resources supervisor advised her to talk with the professor allegedly harassing her and to bring a friend.

"LSU failed to take proper steps to investigate this matter or stop Defendant Rivet's behavior," the lawsuit said.

Caillier said Human Resources doesn't comment on cases in the department.

DEFINING SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Sexual harassment is described in the University handbook, PS-73, as "speech or conduct of a sexually discriminatory nature, which was neither welcomed nor encouraged, which would be so offensive to a reasonable person as to create an abusive working or learning environment or impair his or her performance on the job or in the classroom."

Students have two options when they feel like a University employee has sexually harassed them in any way, said Jennifer Normand, Human Resources assistant director. A formal or informal complaint can be filed at the Office of Human Resources.

"Our process is to be as fair and open minded as possible to all parties involved, so a person who files complaint has the option to tell us their version of the events," Normand said.

In the formal complaint, the student will meet with a Human Resources supervisor and the accused faculty member will meet on a separate occasion, Normand said. The process will involve any witnesses if it's appropriate, she said.

"In both procedures, we are going to talk to both immediate parties," Normand said.

But the informal route will not include witnesses, and the process is not as invasive in the investigation compared with the formal route, she said.

If a student makes a complaint against a University employee, the employee is responsible to meet with the Office of Human Resources and give their version of the story, Normand said. The student's word is not taken as "the absolute truth" because the Human

Resources supervisors have to look at all sides of the story before a decision can be made.

When Human Resources tries to determine if a faculty member has sexually harassed a student, the supervisor will look at four criteria — the frequency of the act, the nature and context of the situation, if it was unwelcome and if it meets the reasonable person's standard — to decide if a violation occurred, Normand said.