HRM professor Barth files
whistleblower suit against UH
By Ken Fountain
Daily Cougar Staff
Stephen Barth, an associate professor in
the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, filed
a lawsuit against the
University in Harris County civil court
July 5 alleging that he was retaliated against for reporting what he believed
were possible criminal
actions by HRM Dean Alan Stutts.
Barth's allegations, which he first made
to UH administrators in the spring of 1999, were the subject of an investigation
by the UH Internal
Audit Division. The final report of that
investigation, released June 25, said that while there had been violations
of UH internal policies and
contracting requirements, the Stutts administration
had not violated any laws.
In the suit, Barth says that in April 1999
he was advised by David Gilkeson, then the college's business administrator,
that he "was
uncomfortable and in fear of being terminated
because he was being asked to participate in and authorize inappropriate
and illicit financial
transactions and expenditures" at the
college.
The suit states that Gilkeson told Barth
that Stutts "was falsifying government documents to justify inappropriate
transfers of funds from
positive account balances to negative
accounts balances in order for Stutts to avoid explaining the negative
balances" to the UH
administration.
The transfers of funds, totaling $506,900,
were to and from an account of $5 million donated by the private Hilton
Foundation for
renovations to the college's Hilton Hotel.
The IA report states that the account was restored before the closing of
the University's books in
fiscal year 1999.
The suit continues, "Gilkeson advised Barth
that Stutts was using a 'money laundering scheme' to enter into (an agreement)
with a New
York public relations firm to bypass the
legally required procurement policies established by (UH) to comply with
the laws of the State of
Texas."
The IA report states that invoices for
the $49,000 contract between the college and the M. Silver Associates PR
firm were inappropriately
paid through the Hilton Hotel's food and
beverage vendor, Chartwells.
Gilkeson, who now works for the Westchase
Business District, said Tuesday that while he did speak to Barth, " I never
raised the possibility
of any criminal activities by Dean Stutts
or myself."
Barth's lawsuit further claims that "Stutts
had also utilized the 'money laundering scheme' to orchestrate the payment
of 'hush money' to an
employee."
Jacques Fox, the former Hilton Hotel executive
chef, was given a six-month severance package of $34,188 in December 1999.
One of the
conditions of the package, according to
a letter from Hilton Hotel General Manager Rodolfo Casparius to Chartwells
UH Resident District
Manger Nick Iula, was that Fox was "not
to make any comments or statements that could be construed as negative"
about UH, the Hilton
Hotel or the college.
Fox, who is now on the faculty of the Culinary
Institute of Houston, was not available for comment. Earlier this year,
he told the Daily Cougar
that he did not want "to wash dirty linen
in public" and wanted "to move on in my life."
Barth's lawsuit states that, in compliance
with UH personnel regulations, he reported the "suspected violations of
law" to Provost Edward
Sheridan, Vice President for Financial
Administration, General Counsel Dennis Duffy, Associate Vice President
for Academic and Faculty
Affairs, IA Director Don Guyton, and former
UH Police Department Chief George Hess.
The suit further states that Barth reported
"the systematic retaliation by Stutts (in violation of the Texas Whistleblowers
Act)" against him for
his reporting of the matters.
Among the ways in which Barth claims Stutts
retaliated against him are:
arbitrary and capricious
merit evaluations;
denial of travel funds for conferences;
excluding him from the internal and external
communications of the college and university; arbitrarily excluding him
from participating in the college's online graduate program; alienating
him from the students and faculty of the college; and defaming him in a
letter to the other HRM faculty members.
Barth initiated two separate proceedings with the UH Grievance
Committee seeking redress for the alleged retaliation.
In the first grievance, the committee found
that Stutts had treated Barth arbitrarily in his merit evaluations and
travel expenses.
In its report on Barth's second grievance,
issued April 25, the committee found that Stutts used different criteria
for Barth in regards to
"grantsmanship," or attracting outside
funding for college activities, than he had for another faculty member,
Associate Professor Ron Nykiel.
Barth's complaint of defamation referred
to a letter written by Stutts to the rest of the faculty about Barth's
open records request for
documents relating to HRM faculty merit
evaluations and salary increases, in which Stutts wrote that the request
was "immature" and
"self-gratifying behavior."
The Grievance Committee found "the dean's
tone in this letter to be extremely unprofessional and inappropriate" and
recommended that
Stutts write a letter of apology to Barth.
The committee did not uphold Barth's complaints
about being alienated from the students and faculty of the college (by
not being assigned
to teach an introductory course and being
assigned a course in diversity instead); excluding him from the online
program (it found that he
chose not to participate because of his
concerns about intellectual property rights over course material); or being
excluded from internal and
external communications.
The lawsuit states that Sheridan and Guyton
"consciously ignored" Barth's requests for their intervention and protection
from the alleged
retaliation by Stutts.
Citing the ongoing nature of Barth's complaints,
Stutts declined to specifically discuss them in an interview last week.
"It's a personnel issue," Stutts said.
"But my real feeling is that I haven't retaliated against (Barth) or any
of my colleagues."
The University, which has not yet been
served with a copy of the lawsuit, maintains a policy of not commenting
on pending litigation.
