BATON ROUGE, La.
Southern University System President Ralph Slaughter has agreed to settle his whistleblower lawsuit over alleged sexual harassment by the chairman of his system’s governing board in exchange for a two-year contract and a salary supplement that will nearly double his state-funded salary of $220,000.
Slaughter had filed a lawsuit against the Board of Supervisors, two individual board members and Gov. Kathleen Blanco, claiming that they were attempting to fire him because he went public with sexual harassment complaints from nine university female employees against Southern Board Chairman Johnny Anderson, who is also the governor’s assistant chief of staff.
Slaughter was granted a temporary restraining order in July from U.S. Judge Ralph Tyson that prevented the board from firing him until the lawsuit was resolved. Tyson ordered both sides to try and negotiate a settlement, and slapped a gag order on all parties during the negotiations.
The board signed off on the proposed settlement Wednesday night, agreeing to pay Slaughter’s legal fees and gave him a contract that protects his job for two years. The deal increases his state-funded annual salary from $210,000 to $220,000 and will give him a $200,000 privately funded salary supplement through the university’s foundation. In the past, the Southern University System president served at the pleasure of the board and could be fired at any time.
Slaughter said he expects to drop the lawsuit, after the governor signs off on the settlement.
In an interview, Slaughter said the first time that he met with state negotiators, they offered him $400,000 out of the state insurance fund to settle the case. Slaughter said he asked that the money be used to set up a scholarship fund but was told that it wasn’t legally possible.
