Commonwealth University president should resign or be fired over wrongful termination suit, faculty union leader says

The head of the faculty union for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education has called on Commonwealth University president Bashar Hanna to resign or be fired after a jury found that a dean who helped an employee file a sexual harassment complaint against the president had been wrongfully terminated.

A federal court jury in August awarded $4 million to Jeffrey Krug, former business school dean at Bloomsburg University, who said in a 2018 whistle-blower lawsuit he was mistreated and ultimately fired that year for assisting Hanna’s executive assistant in filing the complaint.

Hanna now heads Commonwealth University, which was created when Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, and Mansfield Universities were merged in 2022.

» READ MORE: A former Bloomsburg University dean wins $4 million in a whistleblower suit against the school’s president

“I cannot find anyone who can explain to me how it makes sense that someone who has been liable for wrongful termination of a mandated reporter could remain the university’s final arbiter in sexual-harassment cases and other disciplinary cases,” Kenneth M. Mash, president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, said in a statement. “How does anyone expect students, faculty, and staff to feel comfortable at that university? It is farcical.”

If PASSHE does not take action, the union will support no-confidence votes in Hanna by its chapters on the three campuses, Mash said.

The state system, which governs public colleges and universities such as Commonwealth, said in a statement that the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, representing the university and PASSHE, “has filed post-trial motions in anticipation of filing an appeal.”

“We have not seen the statement from the union president, though we know that the leadership, faculty, and staff at Commonwealth are committed to helping our students finish the semester strong, which is the top priority,” the system said.

In a statement Thursday, Hanna said he had no intention of resigning and was proud of the university’s “incredible momentum” and “significant progress.”

“I believe in the mission of Commonwealth University and the extraordinary potential of our students, faculty, and staff,” he said. “... I am confident that together, we can build on the progress we’ve made to create an even brighter future for our university.”

John Wetzel, chair of Commonwealth’s council of trustees, said the council “fully supports” Hanna and “affirms that his leadership remains vital” to the university’s success.

“Our stance is unwavering,” he said in a statement, “as it has been since the original investigation in 2018 which cleared President Hanna of actionable wrongdoing, and nothing at trial came to light to change this view.”

» READ MORE: Bloomsburg University president, accused of sexual harassment, was previously forced out of two jobs

A 2019 Inquirer investigation found that Hanna also had been quietly pushed out of two other jobs after being accused of mistreating employees, women in particular. The state system has continued to defend Hanna, who asserted at the time that he left Kutztown University — another school in the state system — and Delaware Valley University because of disputes over leadership style, not misconduct.

At Bloomsburg, where Hanna became president in 2017, his executive assistant alleged that Hanna engaged in inappropriate and unwanted behavior — calling her “dear,” rubbing her shoulder, and kissing her on the forehead behind his closed office door. Hanna also was accused of sliding the tip of his toe against her shin. She told PASSHE investigators she started to sit outside his reach.

PASSHE, after investigating the woman’s claims, found that Hanna’s behavior was “clearly inappropriate” but not “sexual in nature.” In a settlement with the woman, the school and PASSHE agreed to pay $40,000 for her attorney’s fees and to cover her tuition if she left the university before finishing her degree.

After assisting the woman, Krug said, his office was searched and his email read. Rumors about his personal life began to swirl on campus. Krug said he believed school officials were trying to ruin his credibility and filed his own internal complaint. Soon afterward, he learned he was under investigation by the school.

» READ MORE: Board OKs controversial plan to merge six Pennsylvania state universities

The university accused Krug of violating policy by disclosing the sexual harassment allegations to others, including two donors. Because Hanna’s assistant, who was 42 at the time, also was a part-time student, the disclosure was deemed to have violated federal law protecting the privacy of student records.

A law firm hired by PASSHE to investigate found Krug culpable, and he was fired.

In answering Krug’s suit, the university denied his description of events and defended Hanna, maintaining that he “has never inflicted ‘severe and long-lasting mental damage’ to anyone he ‘interacted with,’” as accused in an anonymous email included as an exhibit in Krug’s suit.

Hanna, in a 2019 Inquirer interview, responded to the allegations at the three universities: “Every one of us has detractors. Every one of us has critics. When you are engaged in being a transformational change agent, some people who have done some things the way they have done them for 50 years might not like the direction we’re going.”

When the jury verdict was announced in favor of Krug, his lawyer, Barry Dyller, said Krug was “thrilled.”

“Dr. Krug has really suffered under a cloud for all these years, and he is totally vindicated,” Dyller said. He added that he hoped the verdict would “send a message far and wide — retaliation is unacceptable, and there can be severe consequences.”

Mash, the union leader, said the union has concerns about Hanna aside from the verdict. Commonwealth University has not thrived under his leadership, Mash said, but rather suffered “budget woes, declining enrollment, hiring issues, major technical failures, various leadership crises, and sinking morale.”

When Commonwealth was formed in 2022, enrollment stood at 12,093. This fall, it was 11,103, according to PASSHE records. Mash said that the university’s projected deficit for 2024-25 is $13.8 million, according to the union’s information, and that the school has had problems with campus management systems and the maintenance of classroom technology. There also has been turnover among top leadership, he said.

“And while those are issues that would lead a rational person to wonder why he is still president,” Mash said in the statement, “after a jury found him liable for wrongful termination, there are no more excuses.”

He said union chapter presidents had met with former state system chancellor Daniel Greenstein and the chair of its board of governors, as well as the Commonwealth trustees.

“Somebody just needs to do the right thing,” Mash said.