Whiting's Court Date - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Sep 16, 2004

RE: Whiting's Court Date

Date: Sep 19, 2004

I know that Sulentic has retained Adelman, and I think she means to watch what happens in order to figure out her next move. I wonder if DT's worth to this university ran out a long time ago!!!

Date: Sep 19, 2004

I know at the center of the MW - DT controversy was DT's total reaction to the death of MW's father. It was as a member of that dept. reports "Chilling" - it was the eve of the storm that has continued to wreak havoc on that dept. I know that MW takes it totally personally, and she is not about to rest with the current status quo. I think we saw a hint of that animosity on this website a couple of months ago. I know that we haven't seen the end of it.

Date: Sep 20, 2004

I've heard about the death issue too, but I do know that the case is about the denial of due process and the fact that USM did not follow the Faculty Handbook. To be sent a letter by the Provost with the recommendation for tenure and promotion (in the proper timeframe) and for the president to then sit on the recommendation and do nothing about it the entire summer and into the fall semester is a travesty of the highest order. I know that Thames's first contact with Whiting concerning the matter was 3 weeks after the fall semester had begun. Chaze and Whiting agreed to meet with Thames even then and Thames's next move was to send her a letter in late Sept. terminating her. What a shabby way to represent a university. This, to me, is shocking.

Date: Sep 20, 2004

As you said Swan Song, it is shocking. It also is either unmitigated evil or total incompetence.

Date: Sep 20, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Music Patron
"As you said Swan Song, it is shocking. It also is either unmitigated evil or total incompetence."

Doesn't unmitigated evil usually look competent?

Date: Sep 25, 2004

Evil is evil. I'm going to listen to my own conscience and urge anyone I know in the CISE field who is currently on a job search - not to apply at USM. I love USM, but I want to keep my credibility intact. Do you think any of the positions that the dept. is advertising, is the one that Whiting had? I don't think her position has been filled yet.

Date: Sep 29, 2004

Whiting is suing the IHL Board as well since when she and Chaze appealed Thames's "decision" that was made one month into the Fall 2002 semester, they sat on the decision until Nov. before they told Chaze that they refused to recognize the appeal. Again, she followed proper Faculty Handbook protocol but they didn't.

Very interesting.

Date: Oct 9, 2004

Jordan was awarded 300 thousand. Melissa, you are about to be one wealthy woman.

Date: Oct 9, 2004

Don't forget, the attorney gets a chunk of the award. And the Univ says they will appeal.

Date: Oct 9, 2004

Someone ought to prepare a canned response to be used whenever the evil one continues to talk about the $65,000 that could have been saved by downsizing AA/EEOC if only there hadn't been such pressure from the Faculty Senate. I'm thinking of a response that includes the salaries of duplicated provosts, duplicated attorneys, duplicated student newspapers, lawsuit settlements, etc. Certainly the response about this particular lawsuit will be that it was before the Thames administration. It's hard to imagine, however, that the past two-plus years of mismanagement at the university didn't play into the outcome.

Date: Oct 18, 2004

The Federal Judge has opined that part of Whiting's suit go back to State Court since she is suing that USM has operated against her constitutional rights. Part still remains in Federal. This news just came in sometime last week. It might set her court date back, and then again, it might not. What we have in Melissa Whiting is a person who wants to see right. The timeframe does not concern her. She's moved on to Arkansas and continues to be a university professor. Lawsuits normally equate to who has the most money, but something tells this Herald, that money isn't at issue here. We could see her in the 5th Circuit because she and her attorney Kim Chaze continue to believe in her rights to due process.

USM will break their backs before they break her (or the theirs/ the taxpayers') bank. Think this is really about tenure?? Get real or go get some real adult education from another program.

Date: Oct 18, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: unprofessional
" Wrong. She was NOT approved for tenure, and now she is trying to have the whole system changed because she feels she had a right to her employment. Her denial of tenure was not much different from any other instructor whose tenure gets denied."

The Provost's and UAC's don't count???? Sounds like a Tale of Too Much Bad Info. Or is that a Tale of Two Articles??