Charles Rivet’s last day on the University payroll was Feb. 22.Rivet, former Spanish instructor, was accused of making verbal sexual advances and touching one of his students inappropriately in his office in 2007.Kristen Barnes, University student, reported Rivet to the Office of Human Resources in 2007, citing her professor made inappropriate and sexually suggestive comments including, “You have a very nice body” and “If I were not married, I would like someone like you,” according to the civil lawsuit she filed.Barnes is one of five students who filed a complaint alleging sexual harassment against a University employee in the last two years in the Office of Human Resources, according to Marian Caillier, Human Resources associate vice chancellor.After her fourth tutoring session, Rivet told his student his wife was out of town, and he was horny, and then he put his hand on Barnes’ leg, the lawsuit said.Rivet continued to teach at the University through December 2008.Guillermo Ferreyra, Dean of the Arts and Sciences College, said the complaints about Rivet were brought to him in 2007, and the decision was made to let him go. Ferreyra said he was part of the process that reported Rivet to the chancellor and the LSU Board of Supervisors.But Rivet was allowed to teach for another year because he was given a one-year due notice,  Ferreyra said — contracts require a one-year notice if the contract will not be renewed. Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures interim chair, John Pizer, sent Rivet a letter Feb. 22, 2008 notifying him his employment would end a year later. Ferreyra would not confirm if Rivet was separated from the University because of the complaint made in Human Resources’ office. Rivet told The Daily Reveille he was falsely accused, and there was no case against him. Barnes’ lawyer, Mark Wolfe, refused to comment on his client’s case, and Barnes also declined comment. The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s office served the lawsuit to the University and Rivet on March 9, and no responses were filed as of March 19. The University cannot comment on litigation, said Kristine Calongne, University spokeswoman, in an e-mail. The University would also not release individual student complaints, citing constitutional privacy rights and because the federal Family Educational Privacy Rights Act includes educational records, said Lloyd Lunceford, attorney for Taylor, Porter, Brooks & Phillips who represents the University. RECENT LAWSUITS AGAINST THE UNIVERSITYAccording to Vickie Jones, Louisiana Office of Risk Management executive staff officer, 67 lawsuits were filed against the University in the past five years, and four of these lawsuits involved sexual harassment — that number doesn’t include Barnes. One of the four cases is closed, and three are still open, Jones said.In the past five years, the Office of Risk Management paid $3,849,296 for all the lawsuits against the University, and $104,410 for the closed sexual harassment lawsuit. Pending cases are not included in the report. The State Office of Risk Management pays for all these fees, and no student fees are used. None of the four cases involved students, Jones said. Barnes said in the lawsuit the Office of Human Resources did not treat her fairly. She claims the Human Resources supervisor advised her to talk with the professor allegedly harassing her and to bring a friend.”LSU failed to take proper steps to investigate this matter or stop Defendant Rivet’s behavior,” the lawsuit said. Caillier said Human Resources doesn’t comment on cases in the department. DEFINING SEXUAL HARASSMENTSexual harassment is described in the University handbook, PS-73, as “speech or conduct of a sexually discriminatory nature, which was neither welcomed nor encouraged, which would be so offensive to a reasonable person as to create an abusive working or learning environment or impair his or her performance on the job or in the classroom.”Students have two options when they feel like a University employee has sexually harassed them in any way, said Jennifer Normand, Human Resources assistant director. A formal or informal complaint can be filed at the Office of Human Resources.”Our process is to be as fair and open minded as possible to all parties involved, so a person who files complaint has the option to tell us their version of the events,” Normand said.In the formal complaint, the student will meet with a Human Resources supervisor and the accused faculty member will meet on a separate occasion, Normand said. The process will involve any witnesses if it’s appropriate, she said.”In both procedures, we are going to talk to both immediate parties,” Normand said.But the informal route will not include witnesses, and the process is not as invasive in the investigation compared with the formal route, she said.If a student makes a complaint against a University employee, the employee is responsible to meet with the Office of Human Resources and give their version of the story, Normand said. The student’s word is not taken as “the absolute truth” because the Human Resources supervisors have to look at all sides of the story before a decision can be made.When Human Resources tries to determine if a faculty member has sexually harassed a student, the supervisor will look at four criteria — the frequency of the act, the nature and context of the situation, if it was unwelcome and if it meets the reasonable person’s standard — to decide if a violation occurred, Normand said.”We have to take all of those into consideration to determine the severity of what happened and then what disciplinary action is appropriate,” she said.Neither the professor nor the student is to repeat the information outside the Human Resources office to protect all parties involved, she said.”We don’t want the professor to come back and say something to the class that the student filed a complaint against him,” Normand said, explaining retaliation on either side results in disciplinary actions.Human Resources’ objective is to get all the facts and any witnesses who could testify for either party, said Venna Jones, Human Resources director.Most cases are usually wrapped up in 30-90 days, depending on how lengthy the investigation is, Jones said. During that time, there is no policy or rule in place preventing the complainant from hiring a lawyer, she said.THE DISCIPLINARY PROCESSIn the University handbook under “Dismissal for cause for faculty,” any University employee found responsible for specific misconduct including sexual harassment must go through the procedures outlined for dismissal.The Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost may determine if the faculty member should be suspended with pay instead of dismissed from the University.Other cases at the University have involved professors being suspended after a criminal complaint was filed. Tenure does not protect a professor from any disciplinary proceedings, said Kevin Cope, Faculty Senate president.”Tenure guarantees facility will not be dismissed under normal circumstances,” Cope said.But a faculty member can be disciplined for any violation of University regulations or any deviation from the University’s practices or in the event of committing a crime, Cope said.In fall 2008, Kevin Mulcahy, political science professor, was placed on administrative leave after he was arrested Sept. 4 for allegedly entering another professor’s home. Eldon Birthwright, political science professor, told The Daily Reveille in September that Mulcahy had forced his way into the apartment and at no point was Mulcahy invited.On Dec. 7, 2008, The Daily Reveille reported Mulcahy would return to teach for the spring 2009 semester. The case was dismissed Feb. 6, 2009. Tracey Barbera, Baton Rouge assistant district attorney, said the attorneys office had regular discussions with Mulcahy’s lawyer, Drew Louviere.”We decided [we’re] not going to make any formal charges,” Barbera said.Louviere and Mulcahy did not return phone calls requesting comment. Art Boudreaux, city prosecutor, said once the attorney’s office closed the case against Mulcahy, he decided to drop any charges from his 2006 arrest for allegedly being a peeping Tom on Sept. 15, 2006. At that time, a University student reported Mulcahy to the police, claiming he saw the professor peeping through his window. Boudreaux said he continued looking into the case after the next incident in 2008, but because of the case’s age and the district attorney’s decision, the case was dropped.Caillier said in an e-mail a faculty member may return to teach after suspension when it is determined the faculty member no longer poses a potential threat to him, herself or others. —-Contact Joy Lukachick at [email protected]