Cheryl Wolfe-Lee, assistant vice president for human resources. Photo from Western’s website.
By Sydnee Smith
Cheryl Wolfe-Lee, assistant vice president for human resources, resigned from her position as Western’s ethics adviser in May after coming under investigation for allegedly violating ethics policy, records obtained by the AS Review show.
The investigation, in to the hiring process of a wellness administrator in campus recreation, eventually found her responsible and referred her to Washington’s Executive Ethics Board which found her responsible in September and fined her $250.
The board found Wolfe-Lee used her position to help hire the wellness administrator using an appointment instead of the standard hiring processes, although they noted the violation was unintentional.
In a statement to the AS Review, Wolfe-Lee said she regrets her choices and in retrospect she was too close the program to detach herself from the hiring. However, she is taking the situation as a learning experience that will enable her to to better serve the campus community.
“As assistant vice president [for] HR, my motivation was driven by the fact that this campus-wide wellness program began at HR, before moving to the recreation center, and I am a very strong believer in the benefits of this wellness program for Western employees,” Wolfe-Lee said. “I was concerned about the importance of a seamless transition of this program to a new wellness administrator without significant delay so became more involved than I should have been.”
Paul Cocke, director of communications and marketing, said Western is always reviewing its processes and they will use the situation to ensure future compliance with state ethics legal requirements.
As a result of the incident, critical needs appointments will require approval from the president or the provost, President Sabah Randhawa told investigators. In this situation, he had delegated the signing of the appointment to his assistant.
Sue Guenter-Schlesinger, vice provost for equal opportunity and employment diversity, also said in the investigation that she regretted signing the appointment of opportunity because she was initially concerned about a conflict of interest. She noted she wouldn’t sign such documents again, even with the support of the vice president or a dean.
Western’s director for internal audit, Antonia Allen, is now the ethics adviser.
The Hiring
Wolfe-Lee and Kaylee Lovelady, the former wellness administrator, met on Dec. 14, 2017 to discuss Lovelady’s departure from the wellness administrator position. Lovelady said she was concerned about the impact her departure would have on the program and mentioned her sister, Darcie Hill might be available for the position. Wolfe-Lee told her to bring that up with her supervisor, Adam Leonard, director of campus recreation.
Leonard decided to pursue an appointment of opportunity for the position instead of going through a hiring search. Wolfe-Lee said in the investigation that she supported Leonard in this decision but does not approve any appointments of opportunity and doesn’t have any authority on the matter.
Wolfe-Lee said in the documents obtained by the AS Review that she saw no problem in the hiring process, as she only knew Hill as Lovelady’s sister based off being Lovelady’s prior supervisor.
On Jan. 11, 2018, Wolfe-Lee emailed Leonard stating all approvals for the appointment of opportunity seemed to be in place. In the reports, Wolfe-Lee admitted she didn’t have any authority to email Leonard about the update on the appointment.
That same day, Wolfe-Lee emailed Lovelady with an update on the matter. She said it was out of courtesy for Lovelady who was concerned about the continued success of the wellness program.
The appointment of opportunity form was signed by all required individuals on Jan. 22, 2018 and Jan. 23, 2018. Those people did not include Wolfe-Lee, as she does not sign the approval forms.
The Investigation
In February 2018, Western’s office of internal audit received two anonymous complaints about the hiring for the wellness administrator position. The investigation was completed on April 3, 2018.
The executive ethics board received the complaint on April 20, 2018 alleging Wolfe-Lee might have violated provisions of the Ethics in Public Service Act. The complaint alleged Wolfe-Lee may have used her position to secure special privileges in the hiring process for another employee’s sister.
During the investigation, Leonard emailed the board stating he did not feel as though Wolfe-Lee used her influence in hiring Hall, and Lovelady was the one who brought forward Hall as a potential candidate.
However, Western’s President Sabah Randhawa said in the investigation that the appointment of Lovelady was an ethics violation. He said Wolfe-Lee did present remorse when given her letter of reprimand. He also said Wolfe-Lee understands the negative perceptions and outcomes her facilitation of the hiring had on faculty and staff with regards to HR practices.
Based on the facts of the investigation, the board found Wolfe-Lee violated the ethics act by using her privilege to help fill an employment position for Hill. However, the board said the violation was mitigated by being unintentional.
Wolfe-Lee agreed in the documents that the evidence presented may lead the board to conclude she violated the Ethics in Public Service Act. Both parties agreed to the finding and Wolfe-Lee was ordered to pay $250 to the Washington State Executive Board.
Correction issued on 10/31: The third paragraph from the end reads as “…the appointment of Lovelady…”. The appointment was Hall, not Lovelady