YOLO COUNTY NEWS

UC Davis

Deadline for Katehi report passes, process drags on

By From page A1 | August 03, 2016

As the Aug. 1 deadline for the investigative report into UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi’s alleged wrongdoings came and went, numerous questions remain unanswered.

First, is the report by investigator Melinda Haag — former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District and a partner in the white-collar and corporate investigations group of the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe — completed yet?

On Thursday,UC Office of the President spokeswoman Dianne Klein said neither she nor anyone at UCOP had yet seen a report. At that time, Klein still expected it to be completed by its due date, Monday. On Tuesday, she still had nothing to report.

Katehi’s spokesman and public affairs strategist Larry Kamer also had no information on the status of Haag’s investigation.

“We’re waiting like everyone else,” Kamer said Tuesday.

The same is true for the UCD Academic Senate, chairman André Knoesen said, and for UCD’s strategic communications team, according to Dana Topousis, executive director of news and media relations.

Other questions are expected to be answered in the report itself, which aims to address alleged potential violations of UC policy by Katehi, including improper use of student fees, nepotism and lying about her involvement in contracts to manage both UCD’s and her personal reputation on social media.

UC President Janet Napolitano placed Katehi on a 90-day paid administrative leave on April 27, after which the two former allies became opponents.

Katehi, UCOP asserted, could be terminated with no explanation provided to her. In early June, Klein said that “Linda Katehi is an ‘at will’ employee who reports directly to the president in her role as UC Davis chancellor. As such, the president has followed the appropriate procedures in regard to placing Chancellor Katehi on paid leave. In fact, as an at-will employee, Chancellor Katehi has been afforded more process than would normally be the case.”

Katehi hired Sacramento-based attorney Melinda Guzman, who appeared to lay the groundwork for a potential lawsuit against UC and Napolitano by filing a grievance with UCOP.

This formal complaint by Katehi lists breach of contract, violation of privacy rights and defamation, violation of confidentiality rights, retaliation, constructive termination and discrimination due to gender among its concerns.

And finally, there is the question of whether Katehi’s leave is being extended — July 26 would have been the end of the 90-day period. The Enterprise has been told by a source that an extension, which requires approval by the UC regents, is in the works.

— Reach Tanya Perez at [email protected] or 530-747-8082. Follow her on Twitter at @EnterpriseTanya

Tanya Perez

  • Recent Posts

  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this newspaper and receive notifications of new articles by email.

  • Special Publications »

    Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service (updated 4/30/2015) and Privacy Policy (updated 4/7/2015).
    Copyright (c) 2016 McNaughton Newspapers, Inc., a family-owned local media company that proudly publishes the Daily Republic, Mountain Democrat, Davis Enterprise, Village Life and other community-driven publications.