UNM professor Sharon Warner is suing UNM for a $1.5 million breach of contract, following what her lawyer said is a mishandled whistle-blowing complaint about sexual harassment committed by another professor.
Warner’s complaint, which was filed in September 2009, will be heard Monday through Friday of this week before a jury in the District Court in Santa Fe.
Warner filed an Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) complaint after she received an anonymous complaint letter. The authors claimed to be parents of a UNM student.
The letter included pictures of Lisa D. Chávez,a creative writing professor, posing as a “dominatrix professor” and disciplining “misbehaving students,” according to the lawsuit.
Chávez was identified as “Mistress Jade” in a local phone-sex company, People Exchanging Power, in 2008. On the People Empowering People website, the advertisement for “Mistress Jade” read, “Do you want a biker bitch, an imperious goddess or a stern teacher ready to punish unruly students?”
In one photo, she posed with then-graduate student Liz Derrington.
Warner’s attorney, Arnold Padilla, said Warner is filing for damages which could amount to between $500,000 and $1.5 million. Padilla said Warner lost her chairship after she complained about Chávez posing with Derrington.
In 2009, Warner filed a lawsuit against UNM for retaliation, breach of implied contract and breach of covenant of good faith. Padilla said Warner’s complaints filed with the OEO were unsuccessful.
Chávez still teaches creative writing classes at UNM. She was never found guilty of any wrongdoing in investigations conducted by UNM.
In an email in September 2010, Chávez said those who accuse her of wrongdoing should accept the University’s judgment.
“It is only a few people who continue to drag down our department by their refusal to let this matter rest,” she said.
Warner claims UNM is procedurally required to acknowledge the complaints she filed with OEO and that a Graduate School of Arts and Sciences policy prohibits sexual relations between students and faculty.
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Chávez filed a complaint against Warner in October 2007 alleging discrimination. Chávez said Warner accused her of being “immoral,” cancelled some of her classes, and gave her last choice when deciding what classes to teach.
“I have been the target of discriminatory practices by Sharon Oard Warner … for 1.5 years and this discriminatory behavior has created an increasingly hostile work environment,” the complaint says.
In the complaint, Chávez said the sexual harassment accusations are false.
“There is a current investigation going on in which I am being investigated for a fallacious charge of sexual harassment,” the complaint said. “This has spiraled out of control until I feel I am both under attack and being slandered badly enough that my career both at UNM and in general are at stake.”
Chávez said former chair of the English department David Jones failed to address her complaints about Warner.
UNM President David Schmidly, who was subpoenaed in the case, declined to comment. Chávez was unreachable by phone as of Sunday.
Padilla said the University marginalized Warner and ignored her claims, along with the claims by other faculty and students.
“They violated policies and procedures in place, particularly policy 2200, which says that any employee who takes action on behalf of the University, or students or faculty is entitled to do so without retaliation,” he said. “She suffered a great many personal and professional setbacks (coming) from the chairman all the way up to the president.”
In November of 2009, the Daily Lobo reported Warner’s husband, Teddy Warner, filed a lawsuit against the University after his wife filed hers in September. He claims the University retaliated against him by cutting his pay by 20 percent because of his wife’s activities, a cut that is burdensome when compounded by legal fees.
Last year a judge ruled his case will be decided after Sharon Warner’s case is decided, Padilla said.
UNM graduate student Carrie Cutler, who will testify before the jury Friday, said Chávez spread false rumors alleging that Cutler planned to kill Derrington, and that she was mentally ill.
Chávez was Cutler’s dissertation adviser but she was dropped after the anonymous letter surfaced. Cutler filed an OEO complaint, but said the University ignored it.
“It’s disappointing when governance and rules designed to protect us fail the way they fail here,” she said. “I am saddened by how long this has gone on and the extent to which the University has attempted to avoid its responsibilities.”
Cutler said she will testify in favor of Warner.
“I intend to talk about the ways the oversight has failed and hope that this will come to a resolution in a way that will fix some of these issues,” she said.
She said she considered filing a lawsuit against the University, but could not find a lawyer willing to take on the University.
Padilla said this is not uncommon.
“The University relies on the fact that it is a giant institution … and they rely on the fact that students and faculty don’t have the resources to take them on.”
