VP at Rio Salado College resigns

Executive investigated for sexual misconduct

A senior manager at Rio Salado College is resigning after an investigative report concluded that he touched female employees’ breasts and buttocks, stared at them inappropriately and made sexually suggestive comments.

The report by the Maricopa County Community College District, obtained by The Arizona Republic under the Arizona Public Records Law, said the investigation substantiated many of the complaints made by “several women” against LeRodrick Terry, Rio Salado’s vice president of student affairs. Terry has denied the allegations.

One woman alleged he squeezed the side of her breast while taking a group photo in December 2015.

Another said he slapped the side of her breast to get her attention during an employee training session in May 2017. The woman said the slap was so hard that it stung.

Two witnesses corroborated the allegation, the investigation said.

On another occasion in July 2016, a woman alleged Terry pulled her close to him during a photo shoot and slid his hand over her buttocks.

The report documents numerous cases of women complaining of Terry staring at them and sometimes making inappropriate remarks. One employee described him giving her “odd glances up and down her body, as if undressing her with his eyes.”

One woman said he invited her into his office in January 2017 and said, “you know I want to jump your bones, right?” The woman told the investigator that she froze and became angry. Holding in her feelings, she told him, “well these bones are taken.” Terry allegedly responded by saying “that’s too bad.”

The district redacted the names of the women making the complaints and the total number of accusers is unclear.

Terry, in his response to the investigation, repeatedly denied any inappropriate touching or comments. He said he is being targeted for retaliation based on his race and gender. Terry is black. Reached by phone on Friday by The

Republic, a man who first identified himself as Terry then said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, you have the wrong number” and hung up. He did not respond to subsequent messages.

Jean Wilcox, the Prescott attorney hired to conduct the investigation, wrote that Terry had not taken the district’s mandated sexual harassment course, despite repeated reminders to do so.

“Terry does not appear to understand what sexual harassment is. He fails to appreciate how gestures, statements and actions he considers friendly can be an unwelcome form of sexual harassment.”

The investigator said the number of incidents in the investigation suggests that discipline is warranted, “something with more consequences” than attending sexual harassment training.

Wilcox wrote that there is “no credible evidence” that Terry’s race or gender were motivating factors for the employees filing complaints.

Terry, 43, was put on paid leave Feb. 8 after Rio Salado College President Chris Bustamante announced the investigation to employees. Officials declined to provide details at the time.

Before district officials took any action, Terry submitted his resignation, effective June 30. He returned to work on April 13 and is working on special projects for the provost until his resignation is effective.

Reports of inappropriate behavior date back to 2015, according to the investigation. But some women who were later interviewed as part of the investigation said they feared retaliation by Terry and didn’t report the incidents until later.

Bustamante, the college president, said he talked with Terry about his “looking at women up and down” in March 2017 and told him sexual harassment was not tolerated at the college. Bustamante said Terry didn’t affirm of deny anything; he listened and said nothing.

“Terry’s behavior continued to be problematic even after that admonishment,” the investigator wrote.

The investigative documents say that Deric Hall in the college’s Office of Equity, Opportunity and Engagement met with Terry in April 2017 to discuss an allegation of sexual harassment, which he denied.

Hall then followed up with complainants and talked with several individuals in September and October who had “indirect knowledge” about Terry’s behavior.

Hall notified Terry in December of the allegations, and the district then hired an outside investigator, Wilcox, to look into the matter further.

The investigation into Terry’s behavior led to two more investigations of Rio Salado College employees, which continue, said Matt Hasson, a district spokesman.

KJZZ executives Jim Paluzzi and Mark Moran were put on paid leave May 3 pending the outcome of that investigative process. District officials declined to provide details while that process is in progress.

The third is an investigation into “whether college leadership responded appropriately to recent allegations of sexual harassment when they became known,” Hasson said.

“Our employees and students have the right to a safe, positive working and learning environment,” he said. “And we’ll do everything in our power to ensure that is the case.”

Rio Salado, one of 10 colleges in the Maricopa Community Colleges system, specializes in online education.

Terry, one of six vice presidents, led a division that includes academic advisement, admissions, records and financial aid.

He was selected for the post in 2015 following a national search, according to a statement the college issued then.