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NEWS
| JAN. 24
Architecture
Lawsuit answer due by Feb. 3
Former dean Martha LaGess’
suit claims that before confronting her, some faculty had plans
to fill her position with an interim.
By Brad
Rollins
Contribution to The Shorthorn
The Texas attorney general’s office has
until Feb. 3 to respond to former Architecture Dean Martha LaGess’
gender discrimination lawsuit. The state’s top lawyer will
represent the university and the UT System, both defendants in the
Tarrant County district court civil case.
“We are obligated by law to give the case to the attorney general
for representation,” said UT System attorney Helen Bright.
“At this time, we are not in a position to provide you with
any further comment.”
A spokesman for Attorney General Greg Abbott confirmed his office
had been forwarded the claim. He said he would have no comment until
after the state’s official answer is filed.
LaGess’ lawsuit maintains the administrative decision to fire
her as dean was influenced by some of the school’s tenured
faculty based on her refusal to submit to what she calls “discriminatory
values.” In addition to reinstatement as dean, LaGess is seeking
unspecified monetary damages.
The suit claims that prior to and during her tenure the school’s
atmosphere was rife with bias against women.
“UTA’s policy regarding sexual misconduct is stated on
posters throughout the university,” the complaint reads. “However,
such policy is not rigorously enforced.”
The suit further alleges Provost George Wright told LaGess she would
have to overcome “the good ole’ boys you inherited”
and that one professor told her, “You are our diversity.”
Nearly a dozen administrators and faculty mentioned in the suit
either declined to comment or did not respond to calls or e-mails.
University President Robert Witt did not respond to a phone call
and e-mail request for an interview. Dr. Wright referred questions
to Bright.
“Attorneys are equipped with knowing what issues should be
played out in the press or not discussed until the court case is
underway,” Wright wrote in an e-mail.
LaGess claims Dr. Witt told her two and a half weeks before she
was fired that she was one of the best hires of the year.
According to the suit, Witt called LaGess offering advice for a
meeting scheduled four hours later with six architecture faculty
who had requested a sit-down with the school’s leader. Witt
advised LaGess, the suit says, to say as little as possible in the
meeting and listen to faculty concerns.
The suit also states the president expressed support for the dean
in the same conversation, telling her, “We believe in you.
We believe you’re one of the best hires we’ve made all
year. I’m just sorry we didn’t tell you what the job was.”
Before the month was over, LaGess was fired.
But according to her attorney’s claims, the former dean had
already lost her job by Aug. 2. The plaintiff maintains the university
had discussed an interim dean even before the meeting with faculty,
one of whom had already sought LaGess’ termination in a letter
to Witt. Former UT-Austin Associate Dean Richard Dodge had been
contacted about replacing LaGess, the suit said.
“What Martha LaGess did not know at the time was that the decision
to remove her as dean had already been made prior to the time she
had to confront her accusers,” LaGess’ attorney writes
in the complaint.
Documents obtained by The Shorthorn indicate LaGess’ faculty
detractors cite what they saw as gross incompetence in questioning
her administration.
“Like most of the architecture faculty and others on this campus,
I welcomed the vision and optimistic enthusiasm anticipated with
the appointment of Dean LaGess,” professor Richard Ferrier
wrote to Witt in a July 17 letter calling for her removal. “Her
‘leadership’ has not provided new direction or innovation.
It has resulted in a seemingly endless series of disasters and devastating
events.”
The five-page document complained the dean had a “predetermined
attitude that older faculty members are not capable of contemporary
computer use and application” and that she arrogantly dismissed
concerns about her leadership.
“In record time, Dean LaGess has alienated most of the ...
School of Architecture,” the letter read. “She has done
the same with alumni, professional associates and colleges at other
institutions. She does not exhibit any degree of respect for the
accomplishments of this faculty, our students or alumni.”
The relationship between LaGess and her faculty critics continued
to sour over the 11 months of her deanship, the letter said, due
to her ineptitude in conducting the school’s affairs.
Now a tenured associate professor, LaGess is represented by Ted
Anderson of the Kilgore & Kilgore PLLC firm in Dallas. She was
fired as dean Aug. 20 after ignoring an Aug. 16 request for her
resignation from Wright, who then locked her out of the dean’s
suite.
Dodge was named interim dean Sept. 4.
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