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

A jury has awarded $4 million to a former Bloomsburg University administrator who said he was a victim of retaliation after he helped an employee file sexual harassment claims against the school’s president.

Jeffrey Krug, the former Bloomsburg business school dean, said in a 2018 lawsuit that he was mistreated — and ultimately fired that year — because he helped president Bashar Hanna’s executive assistant file a sexual harassment complaint against Hanna.

Barry Dyller, a lawyer who represented Krug, said he was “thrilled” with the verdict.

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

Nikki Keller, a spokesperson for the school, now known as Commonwealth University after the merger of Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield Universities, said in a statement that school officials were “disappointed with the decision, and are reviewing options with legal counsel with every intent to appeal. Commonwealth University is and remains a welcoming and inclusive environment for all students, faculty, and staff.”

Keller said Hanna was not available to speak to a reporter.

Hanna’s executive assistant said the president engaged in inappropriate and unwanted behavior — calling her “dear,” rubbing her shoulder, kissing her on the forehead behind his closed office door, sliding the tip of his toe against her shin.

A federal court jury this week found that Hanna, who remains president, caused harm to Krug, as had James Krause, the former interim provost. It also held liable Bloomsburg University and the Pennsylvania System of Higher Education (PASSHE), which oversees the school.

The jury awarded Krug more than $1 million in back pay and other damages resulting in a total award of about $4 million.

Kevin Hensil, a spokesperson for PASSHE, also expressed disappointment in the verdict, and said the system is examining legal options.

In addition to the verdict, Dyller said he will be filing a motion to award attorneys’ fees.

Krug, now 65, had taken the job at Bloomsburg to be near family, including elderly parents, Dyller said. Since his firing, he has found work as an adjunct professor.

”I’m hoping this restores his reputation, and he can again get the kind of position he’s qualified for and truly deserves,” Dyller said.

Hanna became president of Bloomsburg in 2017, but had been forced out of two higher education jobs previously.

Krug, who had once been a candidate for Bloomsburg’s presidency, said after he assisted Hanna’s executive assistant in her filing, his office email account were searched. There were rumors about his personal life spread around campus; he said school officials were trying to impugn his credibility.

Krug filed an internal complaint himself, then learned he was under investigation by the school, accused of violating rules by disclosing the executive assistant’s sexual harassment charges to others, including two university donors. Because the executive assistant was a part-time Bloomsburg student, it was decided that Krug had violated federal privacy laws.

Krug said the charges were spurious. A law firm hired by the state higher education system found Krug responsible, and he was fired.

“The fact that she was a student in some other capacity had no bearing” on her being sexually harassed as an employee, Dyller said, calling the argument “revealing of an intent to find anything” to punish Krug.

Answering Krug’s suit, the university has denied his description of events and defended Hanna, maintaining that Hanna “has never inflicted ‘severe and long-lasting mental damage’ to anyone he ‘interacted with.’”