A former University of Michigan
vice president overturned a 1979
decision to fire Robert Anderson,
the late University athletic doctor
accused of sexual misconduct,
documents filed in U.S. District
Court Thursday reveal.
Thomas
Easthope,
former
vice president of the Division of
Student Life, said in a deposition
that he took steps to fire Anderson
upon learning of these allegations.
Easthope later changed this claim,
telling investigators he actually
gave Anderson the option to resign.
Easthope recounted his experiences
working with Anderson, whom he
described as “authoritarian” and
“in a position of supreme authority”
at the University, in a deposition
held on July 28 and Aug. 4.
According to the amended class
action complaint, the University
received “credible allegations” of
Anderson’s behavior in 1979 but
chose to conceal them, allowing
Anderson to retain his position at
the University until his retirement
in 2003. Anderson died in 2008.
Instead of returning to private
practice,
Anderson
transferred
from his role as director of health
services to a position as senior
physician with health services
in 1980. His personnel file states
the reason for this transfer as
“resuming former position.”
“U of M had and has a duty to
protect the health and safety of its
students, and this duty includes
protecting
them
from
sexual
assaults by U of M employees, and
responding properly if a sexual
assault does occur,” the complaint
reads. “U of M violated this duty
by failing to implement and enforce
appropriate policies and procedures
to prevent, and properly respond to,
sexual assaults of its students.”
In his deposition, Easthope
accused former Athletic Director
Don Canham of ignoring the
allegations and allowing Anderson
to take on a more formal and
increasingly
influential
role
within the University Athletic
Department. Canham served as
athletic director from 1968 to 1988
and is now deceased.
“U of M, through its most senior
administrators, employed a false
artifice
and
misrepresentation
that Anderson was an ethical
and
competent
doctor,”
the
complaint says. “In that regard, U
of M continued to hold Anderson
out as a leader in its healthcare
community.”
In March, the University hired
the law firm WilmerHale to
investigate the sexual misconduct
allegations
against
Anderson
after initially hiring Steptoe and
Johnson LLP. WilmerHale is also
the firm that released the 88-page
report detailing its investigation
into sexual misconduct by former
Provost Martin Philbert, who
was removed from his position in
March.
University
spokesman
Rick
Fitzgerald declined to comment
on Easthope’s deposition due to
the ongoing investigation into
Anderson’s behavior.
“We don’t have anything to add,
while the WilmerHale investigation
remains active,” Fitzgerald wrote.
In June, the University began
reaching out to more than 300,000
former students who attended
the University between the 1960s
and early 2000s, asking them to
report any interaction they may
have had with Anderson. In a
letter to the University community,
Schlissel stressed the importance of
protecting students’ privacy during
the investigation.
“Safeguarding
the
confidentiality of Dr. Anderson’s
former patients is of paramount
importance,”
Schlissel
wrote.
“Accordingly,
WilmerHale
will
not disclose any identifying or
confidential patient information to
the University, and the identity and
confidentiality of Dr. Anderson’s
patients will be protected from
disclosure to others to the fullest
extent permitted by law.”
University
lawyers
representing
alleged
victims
of Anderson are preparing to
speak at mediation next week,
according to the Detroit News.
Because
students
with
underlying
conditions
are
more vulnerable to COVID-
19, they face new challenges
while returning to campus this
fall. About 70% of classes are
being held entirely online, but
some still require in-person
attendance, which can force
these
students
to
decide
whether to risk their health or
their degree.
Kinesiology senior Akshay
Luthra experienced a medical
emergency when he was 15
and has since experienced a
weakening of his lungs and
developed gastroparesis, among
other issues. He said these
conditions weaken his immune
system and put him at risk not
only for being more susceptible
to COVID-19, but also make him
more likely to experience life-
threatening consequences if he
does contract it.
Luthra said though returning
to campus may place him in
danger, he felt the benefits of
being back in Ann Arbor for his
mental health were substantial
enough to outweigh the risk.
“It had to do a lot with mental
health, actually,” Luthra said.
“(At home, in) the case of
being high risk, it was a lot of
just barricading myself in the
house, and I definitely had a lot
of low days this summer. I just
needed to see and interact with
new people, and so I was just
like, ‘I’ll still be safe; I’ll still be
in my apartment; I’ll be wearing
a mask all the time when I walk
outside, but I need to just do
this for my mental health.’”
Luthra’s
struggles
with
mental
health
during
the
pandemic were shared by many
of his peers, and now that
many students have returned
to campus, social gatherings
of unmasked students in large
groups have begun popping up.
Luthra said he relies on other
students for his safety, and he
wishes all of them abided by
social distancing mandates.
“It’s easy to tell that people
don’t care as much as they
should,” Luthra said. “They
think that they’re the safest age
and don’t need to worry about
it. (They think that) even if they
get it, they’ll get over it, but the
point of masks isn’t to save you,
it’s to save people like me and
people that are at a higher risk.
It’s very selfish.”
Cheyanne
Killin,
LSA
senior
and
the
2019-2020
Undergraduate Chair of the
Services
for
Students
with
Disabilities student advisory
board, said she chose not to
return to campus due to pre-
existing conditions.
“The University has not only
put the lives of chronically
ill and high-risk students in
jeopardy, but also reinforced the
ableist notion that my life and
my presence at this University
do not matter,” Killin said.
“I should not need to choose
between not graduating with
my degree and losing my life, or
at best what’s remaining of my
health.”
Killin said her friends are
concerned for their health,
even going as far as considering
writing wills.
“I have a couple of friends
who are considering writing
their
wills
because
they’re
either
one
semester
away
from graduation, or they have
scholarship requirements that
they can’t get out of. Everybody
is kind of scrambling and afraid,
and not being supported in any
way,” Killin said.
University
spokeswoman
Kim
Broekhuizen
told
The
Daily that a good resource
for
students
with
medical
conditions
is
the
Campus
Blueprint website. She also said
these students should reach
out to a few campus offices for
more help.
“Students with disabilities
and/or
chronic
health
conditions —including those
who are at increased risk for
severe illness from COVID-19—
are encouraged to contact their
professor/instructor, the Dean
of Students Office (DOS), and/
or Services for Students with
Disabilities (SSD) to explore
educational arrangements or
accommodations for in-person
courses,” Broekhuizen wrote.
But Killin said she believes
administration has not done
enough to protect medically
vulnerable students.
“The
Administration’s
silence is not only deafening
but murderous, now that this
incomplete plan has been put
into action,” Killin said.
LSA senior Lauren Payne,
who has a thyroid condition that
causes her to have weakened
immunity to the virus, echoed
Luthra’s sentiments regarding
social gatherings on campus.
“It’s
really
frustrating,”
Payne said, “It doesn’t really
feel like (my peers care about
me) because people are being
irresponsible and pretending
it’s a personal health choice
when it’s really a public health
choice.”
Payne said there is ableism
at play when students gather
in large settings and how their
acts further enable the virus to
spread.
“They’re
putting
people
at risk because they’ve lived
most of their lives in positions
of privilege and are healthy,”
Payne said. “It’s never going
to get better if we don’t get
ourselves under control.”
Payne said she can’t utilize
learning
as
well
as
other
medically vulnerable students
might because as a senior,
she is mainly enrolled in labs,
which require in-person work.
Though Payne recognizes that
her professor is supposed to
comply with medical requests
of online learning, she worries
she won’t gain enough from
that experience.
“I think that if I really
wanted to get in touch with my
professors, I could find ways to
not go to the labs, but it would
be pretty detrimental to my
learning of the material,” Payne
said.
Luckily, Payne is in the
Program in the Environment
and her classes take place in
large outdoor spaces which
allow her to remain more than
six feet away from anyone
else. Payne’s roommate, LSA
senior Theodora Reynolds, is
also a student in PitE and was
supposed to have an in-person
tutorial with her professor for a
class she was taking.
Reynolds
immediately
expressed her concern with
meeting
in
person
due
to
Payne’s health risk. Reynolds
said she assumed it would
be an easy switch to attend
their meetings via Zoom. Her
professor, however, did not
agree.
The University of Michigan
is asking the state to intervene
in graduate students’ ongoing
strike in protest of the school’s
reopening plans.
In an unfair labor practice
charge filed with the Michigan
Employment
Relations
Commission on Tuesday —
the first day members of the
Graduate
Employees’
Union
took to the picket line — the
University requests that the
commission order GEO to “cease
and desist from unlawfully
striking or conducting a work
stoppage.”
Lawyers for the University
also
urge
the
commission
to
require
GEO
to
stop
“repudiating”
the
union’s
collective bargaining agreement
and refrain from “violating its
duty to bargain collectively”
by
demanding
negotiations
on “mandatory and/or illegal
subjects of bargaining over the
University’s objections.”
The filing is signed by Gloria
Hage, the University’s senior
associate general counsel, and
Craig S. Schwartz of Butzel
Long, a law firm with offices
across Michigan as well as in
Washington, D.C. and New
York City. It names Sumeet
Patwardhan, president of GEO,
the union that represents more
than 2,000 graduate student
instructors
and
graduate
student staff assistants.
The charge highlights that it
is illegal for public employees to
strike in the state of Michigan.
GEO’s
contract
with
the
University, which was ratified
in April, also prohibits members
from participating in a work
stoppage.
In a Sunday night email
regarding the strike, Provost
Susan Collins described the
work stoppage as unnecessary
and unlawful.
“We do not believe it is
necessary for GEO to strike,”
Collins wrote. “We successfully
reached an agreement with GEO
in April on its entire collective
bargaining agreement. GEO’s
strike falls outside of that
negotiation and is based on a
number of issues, some of which
have very little to do with the
wages, hours, and working
conditions of GSIs and GSSAs.
A strike is not appropriate, as
the primary impact will be on
our students, particularly our
undergraduate students.”
In
a
message
to
undergraduates
sent
Wednesday, Collins called the
strike “disruptive, confusing
and
worrisome,”
reiterating
the illegality of the job action.
Numerous deans at colleges
across
campus
echoed
these concerns in their own
emails to faculty within their
departments.
The union has been upfront
about the illegality of the strike,
even posting about it on Twitter.
In a statement addressing U-M
leadership’s opposition to the
work stoppage, GEO elaborated
on the risks of retaliation.
“If
GEO
strikes
when
the contract is in force, the
organization may not be able
to collect dues,” the statement
reads. “We would also be open
to lawsuits and could be forced
to pay damages. If the contract
is not in force, the likelihood of
a lawsuit is lower, but UM could
still get a court order for us to
stop striking and if we do not
obey it, the coordinators of the
strike (the GEO officers) could
be placed under arrest. GEO
has done work stoppages in the
past, and the university has not
retaliated.”
The
strike
runs
until
Friday, with the potential for
reauthorization if the University
does not meet the organization’s
demands. Despite Patwardhan’s
support for a proposal from
the University, GEO members
rejected a deal on Wednesday
night, arguing it failed to satisfy
their platform.
In an email Friday, University
spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald
wrote that in “every case,”
the
school
tries
“to
meet
the interests of all employee
unions through discussion and
negotiating to an agreement.”
“Part of the agreement from
our recent contract negotiations
with GEO was a promise on the
union’s part that its members
would not strike and leave their
students without instruction,”
Fitzgerald said. “It was only
when they went against that
promise that the university took
additional action.”
Fitzgerald added that the
University “stands ready to
continue discussions with GEO
so that all students are able to
continue their studies without
further interruption.”
When asked about the next
steps in the charge against GEO
filed with MERC, Fitzgerald
directed questions to the state
commission.
MERC handles labor disputes
involving public and private
sector employees. It also weighs
in on unfair labor practice cases.
The chair of the body, Sam
Bagenstos, is a professor at the
University of Michigan Law
School. Bagenstos, who was
appointed by Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer in December 2019, did
not respond immediately to a
request for comment.
Schwartz, the outside lawyer
signing onto the charge, has
experience with labor conflicts
in higher education.
In 2019, he helped Eastern
Michigan
University
obtain
the dismissal of unfair labor
practice charges brought by
the union representing EMU’s
tenured
and
tenured
track
faculty. EMU “prevailed” after
a hearing in front of MERC over
four alleged violations of the
Michigan Public Employment
Relations Act, according to a
press release from Butzel Long.
Schwartz
referred
The
Michigan
Daily’s
request
for comment to Fitzgerald.
In an email, Fitzgerald said
the University often looks to
hire outside attorneys with
experience in relevant matters.
“It’s
not
unusual
at
all
for the university to engage
attorneys outside of the Office
of the General Counsel to
handle specific matters within
their
areas
of
expertise,”
Fitzgerald wrote. “They work
in conjunction with attorneys in
OGC.”
The
law
firm
where
Schwartz works has also been
involved in the debate over the
state’s COVID-19 restrictions.
Butzel
Long
attorneys
represented several Michigan
CEOs who sent a letter in mid-
April pushing Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer to “reopen” the state
and allow employees to return
to work. The letter cited data
indicating
that
Michigan’s
COVID-19 cases had peaked.
According to The New York
Times, Michigan’s new daily
case count peaked in early April,
at 1,722 new cases on April 7.
The CEOs noted how hard it
was to “balance public health
and the economy,” but argued
when it comes to deciding
between saving lives and saving
jobs, “Michigan has enough
moxie to do both at the same
time.”
Whitmer later offered a path
for reopening certain businesses
following the firm’s efforts.
COVID-19 precautions are
at the heart of the graduate
students’ strike in Ann Arbor.
GEO has called to reduce the
police presence on campus and
cut the University’s ties to law
enforcement.
The
unfair
labor
charge
takes issue with these demands,
calling
the
aspects
of
the
platform
related
to
police
reform — such as demilitarizing
the Division of Public Safety
and
Security
and
diverting
funding to the department —
“non-mandatory and/or illegal
subjects of bargaining.”
The charge notes that GEO’s
other demands are relevant
to graduate students’ work
conditions, but argues that
GEO has “declined to seek
a resolution of such issues
through the grievance and
arbitration
procedures
of
the
collective
bargaining
agreement.”
Managing
News
Editor
Leah Graham can be reached
at leahgra@umich.edu.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
4 — Wednesday, September 16, 2020
University requests state
to intervene in ongoing
graduate students’ strike
BECCA MAHON/Daily
Members of the University of Michigan’s Graduate Employee Organization protest the re-opening of the University, among other
causes, outside near the Central Campus Transit Center Wednesday afternoon.
LEAH GRAHAM
Managing News Editor
Students with underlying
conditions voice concerns
‘U’ files unfair labor practice charge against GEO with Michigan
Employment Commission, asking for halting of work stoppage
Medical vulnerability leaves some questioning safety on campus
Testimony shows reversal
in decision to fire Anderson
Documents reveal former U-M officials overturned action in 1979
LIAT WEINSTEIN
Daily News Editor
JENNA SITEMAN
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com