Michael Fraas, associate professor in the department of communication sciences and disorders, was found responsible for sexual harassment in September 2018. Photo from Western’s website.
By Erasmus Baxter
Michael Fraas, an associate professor in the communication sciences and disorders department, was found responsible for sexual harassment in September 2018, according to copies of the investigative report filed in court.
Copies of the report, compiled by an outside investigator retained by Western’s Equal Opportunity Office, were provided to the court both by Western and by Fraas’ attorney, after Fraas sought to block the release of his name, the report and a related disciplinary letter.
Fraas’ name is redacted in both versions of the report filed to court. However, information about his teaching history and published research, contained in copies of the report and letter filed by Fraas’ attorney, has allowed the AS Review to ascertain his identity.
The report found it more likely than not that Fraas had engaged in a consensual relationship with a student he was overseeing, and, as a result, the student suffered a loss of educational opportunities after their relationship ended.
It also found that Fraas compromised the integrity of the grad school application process by writing a letter of reference for the student and sharing internal discussions about her application with her.
Fraas is facing discipline as a result of the findings. Paqui Paredes Méndez, college of humanities and social sciences dean, informed Fraas that the findings constituted a violation of the collective bargaining agreement, according to an Oct. 4 letter included in the documents Fraas’ attorney provided to the court.
After consulting with Provost Brent Carbajal, the proposed discipline was termination from the faculty, Paredes Méndez said.
Paredes Méndez said that once Fraas and the student engaged in an intimate relationship, he could have contacted the chair to ask that the duties having to do with the student be assigned to a different faculty member. By failing to do so, he created a conflict of interest that contributed to a hostile environment, she said.
“Given the information and the findings in the Equal Opportunity report, I cannot support your continuance on the faculty,” Paredes Méndez wrote.
A pre-disciplinary meeting was to be scheduled after Nov. 16, according to the letter. The disciplinary decision is still pending, Dolapo Akinrinade, Western’s public records officer, said in a Feb. 6 declaration to the court.
Through an attorney, Fraas had sought an injunction to block the release of the report and the letter. However, a Whatcom County Superior Court judge denied the motion in a hearing, Friday, Feb. 8. A version of the report and letter containing his name is set to be released to the AS Review this week, after the court approves some additional redactions.
The Review had requested the report and letter as part of a routine request for EOO investigations and faculty discipline letters filed this fall.
Initial investigation
In April 2018, a former student met with the Equal Opportunity Office to file a complaint against Fraas.
The student said they had a three-month consensual relationship with Fraas while she was enrolled in one of his classes in 2015. They said once the relationship ended, their experience as a graduate student was made more stressful as a result and they missed out on writing a thesis because they believed they would have to work with Fraas.
After beginning the investigation, the EOO hired an outside investigator in May 2018. The investigator met with Fraas, the student and the chair of the department.
Fraas confirmed that the relationship had occurred, but denied that he had created a negative environment for the student. He said the fact that he had collaborated on research with the student and served as a professional reference showed that their relationship had remained positive.
However, the student told the investigator that, after the research was completed, she felt gross and like the research was blood money that prevented her from saying anything about her past relationship with Fraas.
In the end, the investigator found it more likely than not that Fraas and the student had a relationship, and that after the relationship ended it had a negative impact on the student.
They also found it more likely than not that Fraas had written the student a letter of recommendation for grad school and discussed how the grad school committee had received the student’s GRE score. Even though the investigator found that all the feedback Fraas gave was positive, they said that a member of the committee engaging in a sexual relationship with an applicant called the integrity of the process into question.
A fourth allegation, about Fraas potentially engaging in relationships with other students, was found to be unsubstantiated after the investigator spoke to one student who denied any inappropriate relationship and could not reach another.
The investigator found that the cumulative effect of Fraas’ behavior created a hostile environment and constituted sexual harassment.
Identity revealed
Although a judge has ruled that Fraas’ identity should be made public, it was redacted in both preliminary copies of the report provided to the court prior to the decision. However, the reports had differing redactions. The AS Review was able to determine Fraas’ identity based on several details in the reports, including:
- Both reports identify the respondent as an associate professor in the department of communication sciences and disorders. The only other associate professor listed on the department’s website, Kelli Evans, is mentioned by name in the report.
- The report provided by the lawyer mentions that the respondent published a study in a specific journal on a specific date. Fraas published an article in that journal on that date.
- The disciplinary letter provided by Fraas’ lawyer states that the respondent taught a neuroanatomy class in spring 2015. Fraas is the only professor listed as teaching that class in ClassFinder.
- Fraas’ written response to the investigation, included in the report provided by his attorney, cites a 2016 textbook that the respondent co-wrote with Evans. Fraas is listed as the co-author of the book on the publishing company’s website.
The AS Review reached out to Fraas for comment on Saturday, Feb. 9, via email, Facebook message and a note left at the address included in the disciplinary letter his attorney provided.
On Sunday, Feb. 10, his lawyer responded with a phone call in which he acknowledged that his client had received an electronic message from the AS Review and asked how they had determined his client’s identity.
The AS Review informed Fraas’ attorney they would be publishing a story with his identity at the end of the day on Monday, Feb. 11, and the attorney said he would pass the message along. No contact from Fraas has been received since.
What’s next
In his May 10 response to the EOO, Fraas expressed remorse for his actions and said he would not repeat them.
“I would like WWU and [the student] to know that I am truly sorry for my behavior and for any hardship this may have caused her,” he wrote. “I would also like to apologize to my colleagues in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. I know my actions have disappointed them.”
However, in seeking to block the report’s release, his attorney has claimed that sexual harassment allegations were unsubstantiated since the relationship was consensual.
Now that a judge has cleared the report’s release, it is set to be released this week after the court approves redactions related to the unsubstantiated allegation that Fraas had relationships with other students.
Fraas is still facing an ongoing disciplinary process that may result in termination. Western generally does not comment on personnel issues and is withholding documents related to the discipline while the process is ongoing.
In an email, his attorney said that in regards to possible termination, Fraas will have to see what happens and take an appropriate response.
Fraas is currently scheduled to teach two upper-division classes this spring, according to ClassFinder.
Updated Feb. 19 to remove some information that could potentially make it easier to identify the complainant.