Shorter fires Paula Penson
The director of campus safety is fired around four months after she came forward with allegations of sexual and work harassment.
When Paula Penson got the call from Shorter University administrators Thursday morning that she had been terminated from her post as director of campus safety, she was in the midst of a vacation.
“I knew it was coming,” said Penson, who had worked in this position for eight years. “I just didn’t know when. The way they fire people, it doesn’t have to be a certain time or day, they just do it.”
Her termination fell around four months after she came forward alleging sexual and work harassment against her by former Vice President of Student Affairs Corey Humphries, who resigned Nov. 8. The allegations concerned inappropriate touching by Humphries, a direct supervisor of Penson’s, and nit-picking of her job performance and work ethics.
According to documents provided to the Rome News-Tribune, an investigation, which concluded Nov. 29, by conflict investigator David Archer, who was appointed by the law firm representing Shorter, found Humphries actions didn’t “rise to the level of sexual harassment under the law.” However, the investigation did find Humphries “violated Shorter’s policy against inappropriate touching.”
University spokeswoman Dawn Tolbert said Thursday morning, “I can confirm that Ms. Penson is no longer employed at Shorter University. Out of consideration for the person’s privacy, it is the university’s policy to not provide comment on personnel matters.”
During the call, Penson said she had to press Lance Moore — who was assigned to a supervisory role over campus safety in the wake of Penson’s allegations — and Susan Zeird, the vice president of finance, to tell her the reasons for her firing.
She did not pick up the termination papers from the school Thursday, but said she was told she violated university policy by speaking with the Rome News-Tribune in November.
Penson said additional reasons given were related to Moore writing her up twice for insubordination for not communicating with her staff the way he wanted her to, along with violating a Department of Labor policy by not giving termination notices to three coaches, who had worked part-time for her but were hired for athletics.
Initially, Penson said she was mad upon hearing the news, but she then felt relieved, closing a difficult chapter in her life that left her “degraded.” Since her allegations, she has been excluded from university activities and directors’ meetings, she continued, along with having her office moved from the welcome center to an “itty bitty” office without windows in the Fitton Student Union.
Three days before Shorter’s Christmas vacation, starting Dec. 20, Penson was put on leave, after her attorneys had been in contact with the university’s counsel and a decision was made to separate her from the situation, she said.
“I just can’t keep going into this every day,” she recalled thinking. She came back to work after the break ended in January.
Along with the termination, Penson — who is a Shorter alumna — was issued a criminal trespass warning prohibiting her from coming onto school property.