Fired employee top contender for UHCL administrative position

Despite being fired from his previous employment at the University of Louisville (U of L), Sam Connally is a finalist in the search for a new Executive Director of Human Resources and Affirmative Action at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Connally, formerly vice president of Human Resources for almost five years, was terminated after the contents came back from an outside investigation, which was kick started by a retirement letter by employee, Melinda Durbin, who claimed that Connally had “enabled” bullying.

In response to the retirement letter, Provost Shirley Willihnganz enacted an internal review into Connally’s professional conduct.

Connally issued a counter-complaint saying that Durbin wasn’t telling the truth. This prompted U of L to hire an outside investigator to look into Connally and Durbin’s claims, as well as the need for an internal review.

In the conclusion of the investigation report, it states that Connally “would show poor judgement and use an intimidating and disrespectful style.”

Connally returned fire on the college with a lawsuit, citing a violation of Kentucky’s Whistleblower Statute and Kentucky’s Civil Rights Act.

The lawsuit states that Connally was fired, in part, for exposing that Willihnganz pushed for Humana as the college’s new health plan, when there were better options, in order to attain leverage for a possible $10 million donation from David Jones, Sr., founder of Humana.

In an open-letter sent to Louisville’s Courier-Journal, Connally states “[i]t is a matter of public record that I had previously recommended, in writing, the selection of another health plan vendor to the Provost…with the concurrence of the Human Resources Advisory Committee…”

The lawsuit also states that Connally brought a matter of racial discrimination to Willihnganz’s attention and she ignored his findings. Through a series of complaints and documents, Connally reported in the lawsuit his conclusion that an employee had administered HR policies “in a manner as to advantage White employees and disadvantage Black employees.”

The lawsuit goes on to state, “the discrimination was the most extreme example of race discrimination that he had observed in over 20 years as a University EEO Officer.”

The university’s investigation report states that both of Connally’s accusations toward Willihnganz were groundless, and that there is no evidence of misconduct by Willihnganz in regard to the cases brought up by Connally.

U of L’s report also stated that Connally did not “appropriately participate” in the investigation. Connally refutes this in his lawsuit and his open letter to the Courier-Journal, stating that the investigator wasn’t treating him fairly and was hired by the university to “shoot the messenger.”

Two months after Connally’s termination, Willihnganz announced that she was stepping down as Provost and Executive Vice President. Spokesman for U of L Mark Herbert told the Louisville-based Courier-Journal that her departure had nothing to do with Connally and his accusations.

Jean Carr, executive director of budget, is chairing the UHCL search committee, which is comprised of nine members, for a new Executive Director of Human Resources and Affirmative Action.

Regarding the search committee’s knowledge of Connally’s past, Carr answered in the affirmative, stating that “we took it into consideration.”

When pushed further, as to the ways in which it factored into the search, she replied, “that’s probably not for me to say,” citing that the search is still in progress.

Carr was hesitant to answer whether or not the committee had spoken to Connally’s previous employers, once again referring to the ongoing search.

She also stated that the position is down to two finalists, one of which is Connally.

In a presentation given at the UHCL campus on Sept. 21 entitled “Human Resources’ Role In Making University of Houston Clear Lake A Great Place To Work,” Connally briefly brought up his past with U of L, during the Q & A portion.

“You find yourself at a circumstance, when you’re staring at the line,” Connally said, “and the line happens to be your boss. And you have two choices: you roll over and play dead—and your soul quietly ebbs away—or you stand your ground.”

He reiterated his stance that U of L was in the wrong, citing the school’s sketchy past, which he referred to as a “rogues’ gallery.”

Connally specifically mentioned U of L’s former Dean of Education Robert Felner who, in 2010, pleaded guilty to income tax evasion and stealing money from two different universities, among other things, and was sentenced to 63 months in jail.

In Connally’s presentation, he declared his “four Rs” approach, which includes ‘recruit,’ ‘retain,’ ‘recognize’ and ‘reward,’ regarding faculty and staff.

His philosophy also includes the idea of moving from “rule-based” decisions to “judgement-based” decisions.

In addition to U of L, Connally has been employed at Washington College, University of North Carolina Wilmington and the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

The position of Executive Director of Human Resources and Affirmative Action at UHCL was formerly held by Karen Edwards, who held the position for 13 months before accepting a position at Alvin Community College.