FORT COLLINS, Colo.—Colorado State University records show that the school’s former police chief, Dexter Yarbrough, was put on leave after one of his subordinates filed a sexual-harassment complaint against him.
The (Fort Collins) Coloradoan reported on its Web site Monday that documents it obtained from CSU in response to an open records request show that an unnamed employee filed a complaint with the school’s equal opportunity and diversity office Dec. 10.
Interim CSU President Tony Frank put Yarbrough on leave from his $157,000-a-year position nine days later, and appointed a panel to investigate the allegations.
CSU officials received a second sexual harassment complaint, filed anonymously, in January.
Yarbrough resigned March 6, after investigators concluded their work and presented Frank with their report.
Yarbrough has not responded to the newspaper’s request for comment, and a listed phone number for him could not be found.
CSU has declined to discuss the investigation, and said releasing reports from its equal opportunity and diversity office would “stifle honest and frank discussion” within the university.
“The OEOD investigation records involve candid, personal statements of claimants, witnesses and others who cooperated with the investigation with the reasonable expectation that their statements would not be publicly disclosed to co-workers or the general public, subjecting them to undue hardship or embarrassment in their personal or professional lives,” CSU attorney Joshua Zuglish wrote to the Coloradoan.
CSU paid Yarbrough about $30,000 during the nearly three months he was on paid administrative leave. Frank said Yarbrough received no separation agreement or severance package following his departure.
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Information from: Fort Collins Coloradoan,
