Former UW-Madison administrator Paul Barrows lost his U.S. Court of Appeals case Thursday. The 7th Circuit Court decided Barrows was not done an injustice when the university placed him on unpaid administrative leave after he was told by Chancellor John Wiley to resign in 2004.
""We're glad that the court understood the facts and agreed with our case,"" said Director of University Communications Amy Toburen.
Barrows used several different types of leave time for compensation from Nov. 1, 2004, to June 20, 2005, after resigning from his vice chancellor for student affairs position due to sexual harassment allegations.
Barrows claimed the ""forced"" use of leave time denied him a ""property right,"" or the ability to make the same amount of money he would have made in his vice chancellor position, according to the court opinion.
According to UW System personnel guidelines, academic staff can hold both ""indefinite"" and ""limited"" appointments—indefinite appointments are granted by the chancellor and are basically permanent ""backup"" positions, while limited appointments are higher-up administrative positions and are by no means permanent.
The court noted Barrows failed to request to be placed in his ""backup position"" immediately—which he assumed June 23, 2005, in the Provost's Office.
As a result, the court said he did not suffer economic harm because he continued to receive compensation while on leave at his regular rate of pay—$191,749 a year—rather than the lower pay—$72,881—he would have received if he had been placed in his backup position immediately.
Due to the Barrows incident and legislators' complaints that he collected his salary for almost eight months while on leave, the Board of Regents now has stricter rules regarding sick leave and backup positions.
Although Barrows' attorney Lester Pines was unavailable for comment Thursday, he told Madison.com Barrows will file another suit in state court over the university's alleged rescinding in 2005 of a $150,000 job offer.
Additionally, a pending state lawsuit filed against former Dean of Students Luoluo Hong, who brought forward the sexual harassment claims against Barrows in 2004, will proceed, Pines told Madison.com.
Madison.com contributed to this report.
