SETTLEMENT SECRETS: UNIVERSITY AND STATE SPENT AT LEAST $160,000 TO SETTLE HIGH-PROFILE LAWSUITS

Southeast Missouri State University and the state paid at least $160,000 in the past two years to settle five federal lawsuits brought by Southeast employees or former employees.

Terms of the settlements have been a closely guarded secret. The university has refused to disclose settlement terms, and the settlement agreements routinely prohibit the parties involved from talking about them.

But state records show the university and state combined paid $150,000 to settle two lawsuits, and the state paid $10,000 in the settlement of a third suit filed since 1994.

All of the state's payments came from its Legal Expense Fund.

The state's accounting division in the Office of Administration has no record of any payment in the 1996 settlement of two lawsuits brought by Debra Mitchell-Braxton.

But a settlement involving only university funds wouldn't show up in the state records, officials said.

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon and his staff think any agreement that obligates spending taxpayers' money should be an open record. But state law doesn't require universities and other agencies to disclose such payments.

Cape Girardeau lawyer Don Dickerson is president of Southeast's Board of Regents. He favors keeping such settlements secret. "I think it helps resolve disputes," he said.

He said public universities aren't solely supported by tax dollars. Student fees and private funding figure in the picture, too. As a result, some of the money spent on settlements at universities could come from non-tax sources, Dickerson said.

The university and the state combined paid $75,000 to settle an age-and-sex discrimination lawsuit brought by Loretta Schneider, state records show. She was 56 and assistant director of career planning and placement when she brought suit in November 1994.

State records show the state paid $35,000 to Schneider and her lawyer last July. The university contributed $40,000 more to the settlement.

Diane Howard, the school's attorney, said in a June 11, 1996, letter to Assistant Attorney General John Munich that the settlement was reached April 19 after nine hours of negotiation.

"My crystal ball must have been in top-notch shape that day because we were able to settle for the $75,000 we had discussed as a `dream settlement,'" she wrote.

State records show the state paid $37,500 and the university an identical amount in March to settle a sexual harassment suit brought by former assistant music professor Louisa Panou-Takahashi.

Former English professor Theodore Hirschfield and his lawyer were paid $10,000 by the state in May 1995 in the settlement of his federal lawsuit. In the suit, Hirschfield alleged the university violated his civil rights of free speech and due process after he was accused of sexually harassing students through verbal comments.

The state has no records indicating if the university made any payment to Hirschfield.

Mitchell-Braxton is the only one of the four plaintiffs who still works at the university. Schneider quit her job, Panou-Takahashi was fired and Hirschfield retired and moved to Florida.

Mitchell-Braxton is assistant director of the university's Campus Assistance Center.

She said the settlement prevents her from disclosing terms of the agreement. But she said she won her court battle with the university. Mitchell-Braxton, who is black, charged in a 1994 lawsuit that she wasn't hired as director of the Campus Assistance Center because of her race.

She was suspended for five days in the spring of 1995 for what school officials called "unprofessional conduct" stemming from a confrontation with the spouse of another employee at the Campus Assistance Center.

Mitchell-Braxton then filed a second lawsuit in which she said the university disciplined her because of the first lawsuit.

The settlement dealt with both suits and followed a fall 1995 ruling by the university's grievance committee that the suspension was excessive.

Mitchell-Braxton disclosed the ruling in December 1995 and said she received back wages for the days she had been suspended.

As to the settlement of the lawsuits, she said: "No amount of money can ever take away the discriminatory act."

She said she didn't ask the university for a settlement. "They proposed things to me and I accepted."

She said, "I am an educated woman. I don't feel when opportunities come up you should be denied because of your race."

Mitchell-Braxton said that despite the legal battle, she never entertained any thoughts of leaving the university. She is a graduate of Southeast.

"It was not a fun part of my life," she said of her legal battle, but "I am very happy with the way things turned out."

Schneider, who formerly served on the Cape Girardeau City Council, said the university drove away good employees.

"Many outstanding people left because they weren't treated fairly," she said. "I don't believe very much has changed since I have left." Schneider still lives in Cape Girardeau.

She suggested the university prefers to settle cases rather than risk a public fight in the courts.

But Dickerson said the Board of Regents and the university don't have a settle-at-all-costs policy.

Nationwide, most civil suits are settled without going to trial, he said.

Theodore Hirschfield

Jan. 7, 1994

English professor Theodore Hirschfield filed a federal lawsuit alleging his civil rights of free speech and due proceed had been violated. He denied sexually harassing any students and claimed the case boiled down to one of academic freedom.

Settled in the fall of 1995. Hirschfield and his lawyer received $10,000 from the state's Legal Expense Fund. The state has no record of any payment from the university. Hirschfield has retired and moved to Florida.

Debra Mitchell-Braxton

June 10, 1994

School employee Debra Mitchell-Braxton, who is black, filed a federal lawsuit contending she wasn't hired as director of the Campus Assistance Center because of her race.

She filed a second lawsuit after she was suspended for five days without pay in the spring of 1995 after a confrontation at the Campus Assistance Center with the spouse of another university employee. She claimed the university disciplined her because of the first lawsuit.

Settled in April 1996. Terms of the settlement weren't disclosed and the state shows no record of any payment made by the state. A settlement involving only university funds wouldn't show up in the state's records.

Loretta Schneider

Nov. 8, 1994

Loretta Schneider, then assistant director of career planning and placement, filed a federal lawsuit. She charged the school denied her promotions and paid her less because of her age and sex. Schneider later quit her job at the university.

Settled in April 1996. The university and the state combined paid $75,000. The money went to Schneider and her lawyer.

Louisa Panou-Takahashi

October 1995

In October 1995, assistant professor of music Louisa Panou-Takahashi filed a federal lawsuit. She charged that she was sexually harassed by her department chairman and then given her termination notice when she complained to school officials.

Settled in February 1997. The university and the state combined paid $75,000 to Panou-Takahashi and her lawyer. The state paid $37,500 of that, with Southeast picking up the other half of the cost.