Northern dean to receive $75K for retaliation

Randy Bachmeier, the dean of the extended university at Montana State University-Northern, has been awarded $75,000 from the university after the Human Rights Bureau ruled in his favor in his complaint.

Bachmeier filed a complaint of sexual harassment against former MSU-Northern provost Rosalyn Templeton, and then filed a complaint with the HRB that he had been retaliated against for doing so.

HRB hearing officer Terry Spear made judgments in favor of both parties - that MSU-Northern did not subject Bachmeier to illegal sexual harassment during his employment, but that MSU-Northern did retaliate against Bachmeier for filing his complaint.

"We were obviously very pleased with the hearing officer's decision to the retaliation claim," said John Heenan, one of Bachmeier's attorneys. " ... I think the hearing officer got it wrong about the harassment claim. If the genders were reversed and a male supervisor was rubbing the neck, back and arms of female subordinate employees, no one would call it anything but harassment."

Templeton, who was removed from the case as a party, unfairly reprimanded Bachmeier the day after he asked her to stop touching him concerning his submitting her approval of a summer course that she had expressly disapproved earlier that month, May 2013.

MSU-Northern was found to have further retaliated against Bachmeier when former chancellor James Limbaugh took special care to give notice to Bachmeier and his colleagues and peers involved in the process of selecting a new provost that he was not eligible for the provost position, according to the decision.

Bachmeier submitted his application for the provost position after Templeton resigned, and Limbaugh was accused of taking extra steps to ensure the dean was not considered for the job.

The decision states that MSU-Northern has six months to arrange training for its employees in the law against retaliation.

The university must immediately pay Bachmeier the $75,000 for the emotional distress he was caused, the decision states.

Kevin McRae, deputy commissioner of higher education for the Montana University System, said the university system agrees with the hearing officer's findings that Bachmeier's claims of harassment were unsubstantiated or false.

"We also agree with the hearing officer's finding that Randy is not qualified to be the provost of Northern," McRae said. "We respectfully disagree with the finding that it was retaliatory to let it be known that Randy was not qualified when he applied unsuccessfully for the provost position."

Heenan said that Bachmeier had offered to settle on the outset for less money and simpler terms that what the hearing officer issued.

"They chose instead to spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars fighting him," Heenan said. "They've had four attorneys fighting Randy for years now - fighting a fight they were going to lose."

Heenan said that money was never the driving force behind Bachmeier's claims, but rather it was his desire to be validated as an employee and have a supervisor who was touching him and others removed from her position.

Heenan said that all the people who lined up to testify against Bachmeier shows the benefits to being a "yes-man" in the university system.

He said he thought that a good summary of the case lay within the pages of the decision.

"$75,000 is an appropriate award for Bachmeier being subjected to, and having to endure, severe emotional distress in both these instances, only because he had stepped up for his rights to be free from what he experiences as sexual harassment by his supervisor," the decision reads.

McRae said the university system thinks the amount is a little steep.

"It seems to us that $75,000 for emotional distress caused by learning he was not qualified for a job was a little bit steep," McRae said, adding that this is especially so because the communication from Limbaugh about Bachmeier's ineligibility for the position began with a message from Bachmeier.

Each party retains the right to appeal the decision for 14 days after the decision has been released.

Vivian Hamill, one the attorneys representing the university, said this morning she could not talk about the case, as she was still looking it over and suggested talking to McRae.

"We could appeal, we haven't decided yet," McRae said. "We're still reviewing the decision."

McRae said for the most part, they are pleased with the hearing officer's decision.