UW-Madison released an investigative report conducted by private attorney Susan Steingass Thursday that claims UW-Madison Administrator Paul Barrows sexually harassed five women, one of whom is former UW-Madison Dean of Students Luoluo Hong, and wrongly used his sick and vacation time.
A university press release from the office of UW System President Kevin Reilly confirmed that despite these findings, the university plans to retain Barrows as a Senior Administrative Program Specialist in the Office of the Provost.
Publicity surrounding Barrows' extended leave emerged when it became known in June 2005 that he left in conjunction with a failed romantic relationship between him and a UW-Madison graduate student.
According to the censored report, Barrows said the relationship was consensual and abbreviated, and that the woman had pursued him.
Contrary to this statement, in a secret memorandum from former Dean of Students Luoluo Hong to Chancellor John Wiley on Nov. 1, 2004, Hong, who had met with the graduate student, said, \[She] indicated to me that the majority of the sexual encounters took place after Dr. Barrows had been apparently drinking and would then return home, call [her] in the early hours of the morning, and ask her to go over to his home for the purposes of having sex.""
Hong said that credible rumors regarding Barrows' ""sexual conquests and pursuit of female students"" were quite prevalent, and suggested Barrows be removed from his position.
According to the report, Hong said none of the five women Barrows allegedly harassed would come forward with formal charges because of fear.
The report said Hong told Wiley in June that she was one of the women that Barrows sexually harassed.
The Steingass Report concludes that it was the university's lack of forthrightness in dealing with the situation that Hong believes created the taxing conditions which forced her to leave the university, claiming her work environment was ""toxic and hostile.""
Hong claimed in the memorandum that Barrows showed a ""lack of sensitivity or responsiveness to issues related to sexism, sexual harassment and sexual assault.""
Hong also addressed concerns in her memorandum to Wiley about another employee, whom Barrows mentored, who was making sexual advances towards students.
She said Barrows did not support her decision to have the employee fired until the Academic Personnel and Legal Council Office affirmed her decision.
The Steingass Report also describes Barrows' sexual harassment of another Bascom Hall employee from December 2002 until June 2003.
She claims that Barrows ""looked her body up and down,"" and at a campus event ""when he was about three feet away, he kissed the air and looked at her. She described his behavior as lewd and stalking.""
The report also said Barrows followed her around State Street and at the ""Super SOAR"" meeting.
In a phone conversation with Luoluo Hong on Dec. 19, 2004, the employee told Hong that she had conferred with someone who told her, ""You're not wrong, there are not many women, especially women of color, that stay on this campus without giving it to Paul. Yup, Paul has his issues.""
Barrows' lawyer Lester Pines issued a statement Thursday that said Barrows has never had a formal complaint filed against him. It also says the report failed to portray the situation in a ""balanced"" way and does not detail ""how the University has treated [Barrows] unfairly and denied him due process.""
Additionally, Pines wrote that Steingass did not ask Barrows about his relationships with the two women included in the report.
""[Barrows] demands the opportunity to face all of his accusers and to have an opportunity to address all of the allegations,"" the statement said.
The report also details concerns that Barrows used his sick and vacation time inappropriately.
The report said Barrows' leave is justified from November 2004 to January 2005, but after that he was not ill as that term is used in statutes.
Those who saw Barrows frequently from January 2005 to June 2005 said he was not ill in any way that appeared to prevent him from working.
The report concluded, ""sick leave became an expedient way to continue a situation that went on far too long.""
In an e-mail to Wiley, President Reilly said, ""You and your administrative team should have been aware of the requirement that an employee must be ill in order to charge an absence to sick leave. The failure to do so has hurt the University's reputation.""
Reilly also requested that Wiley implement comprehensive policies regarding sick leave and report on them no later than Oct. 21, 2005.
In an e-mail to Reilly, Wiley said he was not diligent in requesting documentation for Barrows' sick leave, and his trust in Barrows was misplaced.
Gov. Jim Doyle addressed the report in a press release Thursday, saying it shows ""bad decisions were made and sloppy procedures were followed.\
