With trial pending, Lasaga remains on payroll

COURTESY YALE BANNER Former Saybrook Master Antonio Lasaga.

As investigations into former Saybrook Master Antonio Lasaga's alleged criminal activity drag on, the University continues to pay his salary, and the Administration doesn't know if and when this will stop. "It will become evident at some particular moment that a decision will need to be made and that his status will need to change," University Provost Allison Richard said.

"Is it years away? No. Is it days away? I doubt it," she continued. "These processes move forward and decisions are made along the way. When the time is appropriate, the president and I will reach a decision."

Originally, this decision to put Lasaga on a paid leave of absence--as opposed to an unpaid leave--was a result of a conversation between Lasaga and University President Richard Levin, GRD '74. But this was right after Lasaga's resignation. "When Lasaga resigned from his Mastership, it was agreed that he would go on paid leave, and that status has continued," Richard said.

Meanwhile, Lasaga has not been found guilty in court, and Yale College Dean Richard Brodhead, BR '68, GRD '72, thinks any change in Lasaga's current employment status would be premature and based on only "speculated resolutions." He explained that Lasaga "has not been convicted of a crime, so there is, in the University's eyes, no reason to stop paying him."

A paid leave of absence is a courtesy extended to faculty who have served Yale well and "who, because of some humanitarian circumstance, must take time off from the University," Richard said. "We are a humane and decent institution that tries to behave in a decent way to people who have been decent to us."

For most cases, the University has a policy that governs leaves of absence, but Richard acknowledged that Lasaga's case is unique. "We're feeling our way through it, doing what seems to us to be reasonable and decent, with no precedents to guide us," she said. Richard added, however, that should Lasaga be convicted, the Administration would likely take measures to terminate his employment.

Since Lasaga is a senior faculty member, the process to revoke his tenure would be long and complex. According to Deputy Provost Charles Long, University policy states that the President must convene a tribunal made up of faculty members and hold a trial-like hearing. Or, if the President so orders, an alternative sort of hearing can be held.

According to Long, University guidelines suggest convening the tribunal for dealing with matters involving "behavior that is deemed somehow morally or ethically egregious, or a significant neglect of duties." To his knowledge, however, such a tribunal has never been convened, nor has anyone ever been removed from a tenured position.

Thus, the process for proceeding with such an event lies in very murky territory. "There's an elaborate procedure for dealing with matters of fundamental importance to the community, and there is a possibility that even a different procedure might be used," Long said.

The University can rely only on the ambiguous instructions of its constitution and the suggested guidelines of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), an organization devoted to the fair treatment of college and university faculty. "The position of the AAUP is that if someone has committed some sort of moral turpitude or is not fulfilling their duties, then their tenure should be called into question," said Norma Schulman, associate secretary of the AAUP for Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Faculty Governance.

Schulman explained that termination of tenure occurs in exceptional circumstances. "Most cases tend to focus on medical disability issues, tenured faculty resisting retirement, mental illness, a debilitating physical illness, and sometimes even chronic alcoholism," Schulman said. "In any case, [termination] is incredibly rare. It's not an action that anyone suggests taking lightly."

The AAUP has no legal jurisdiction over tenure proceedings, but it has issued a "statement on procedural standards in faculty dismissal proceedings" which offers suggestions for the fair treatment of faculty members in any university proceeding concerning their tenure.

Yale professors had split reactions. "He's not fulfilling his duties, but that's not precisely his fault--he's prevented from fulfilling them," Laura Green, an assistant professor of women's and gender studies and English, said. "I think that it's a bad precedent to remove a person from office without having them officially convicted of anything."

A senior faculty member who wished to remain anonymous, however, believes Yale must eventually make a decision. "I think the University wants to show their faith in Lasaga and in the idea that you're innocent until proven guilty, and they do that by continuing to pay him. But there definitely has to come a point, sooner than later, where they just stop paying the man."

Still, administrators stand firm in their stance that Lasaga's current status will continue until it becomes apparent that there's a need to change it. "The case is ongoing and we will see how it develops," Long said. "We are in no hurry to take action."

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