Ex-Utah College Official Files Sex Harassment Suit

November 8, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A former associate dean at a for-profit college’s Ogden, Utah campus has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit, claiming repeated, unwelcome sexual advances occurred on a business trip in Las Vegas.

Lee Berger, in her complaint filed in federal court last week, claims her immediate supervisor kissed and touched her inappropriately in December 2010 while she and other colleagues were in Las Vegas.

Named as defendants are her former employer, Stevens-Henager College, and former supervisor, Mario Merida.

Berger says the fact that Merida, the school’s dean of allied health sciences, is married with children made her feel safe, and she was demoted after reporting the incident.

College CEO Eric Juhlin says the school is “committed to upholding the highest legal and ethical standards for its employees” and others but declined further comment.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: West NewsTopics: lawsuit, sex harassment, UtahHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

View the Original article

Broker Admits Funneling Over $1M in Bribes to N.J. School Official

April 3, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A Maryland insurance broker has admitted making more than $1 million in bribes to a former school superintendent in southern New Jersey.

Seventy-year-old Francis X. Gartland of Baltimore pleaded guilty Monday to charges of mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud the IRS and perjury.

Gartland admitted paying Toms River Regional Superintendent Michael Ritacco between $1 million and $2 million from 2002 to 2010 as part of a scheme to keep his contract as the district’s insurance broker. He also admitted using straw donors in 2007 to make illegal campaign contributions to Joseph Vas, the former Perth Amboy mayor who was running for Congress at the time.

Gartland could get more than 20 years in prison when he’s sentenced July 9.

Ritacco’s trial is scheduled to begin April 9.

 

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: East NewsTopics: Fraud, insurance fraudHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

View the Original article