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SOU business prof seeks redress for demotion By Sara Murphy ASHLAND � A Southern Oregon University business professor has filed a grievance with the Faculty Senate alleging she was placed on administrative leave and "demoted" without just cause. In documents obtained by the Mail Tribune, Suad Cox alleges her right to due process was violated when she was placed on administrative leave from May 17 to June 16 and demoted June 13 without explanation. The grievance, dated June 28, is the outgrowth of recent personnel troubles within the SOU business department. In early May, Cox filed a report with the Ashland Police Department alleging she had been assaulted on campus by business instructor Dennis Slattery. Ashland police did not cite Slattery in the incident and the Jackson County District Attorney last month decided not to file charges, citing insufficient evidence. After the incident, Cox was sent letter notification she was being placed on paid administrative leave until the end of the school year due to "the disruptions" and "unhealthy attitudes among faculty members." Slattery was also placed on leave and the two professors� classes were covered by other business faculty members. The university did not renew Slattery�s temporary contract, said Sara Hopkins-Powell, SOU interim president. Slattery worked for the school one year. As far as the 59-year-old Cox is concerned, her dispute is no longer with Slattery. She�s troubled by the way university officials handled her situation. "I went to the police and they (SOU officials) didn�t like it," Cox said. She filed a grievance against Hopkins-Powell � who was provost and vice president for academic affairs before becoming interim president this month � as well as John Laughlin, dean of the School of Business, and Curt Bacon, business chair. University officials did not return calls Thursday seeking comment on Cox�s grievance. Cox said the Faculty Senate�s hearing committee has not yet responded to her request. According to the faculty bylaws, the committee has until Aug. 28 to reach a decision. "I am hoping that I�ll be allowed the right to grieve," Cox said. "That�s all I�m asking for." In her grievance, she�s also asking to be reinstated as director of the Hotel, Restaurant and Resort Management program. "At present you are coordinator of the HRRM option," Hopkins-Powell wrote to Cox in a June 13 letter. "You are to cease using the title �Director� and you are to eliminate the use of the term director from all program materials, including your business cards." Cox said she was not given further explanation for the change, which she considers a demotion after serving four years as director of the hospitality program. Her pay and duties have not changed, she said. "It�s really not that important, but if you�ve been a director for four years you want to know why suddenly you�re a coordinator," Cox said. Cox alleges she was placed on leave and demoted as an act of discrimination. The grievance seeks to prove that she was given a "biased and unfair" performance evaluation for 1999 "in spite of her excellent record in teaching, service, and scholarly activities" and that she was "deprived of her rights as a faculty member of SOU." In addition to reinstatement as director, Cox is asking for a non-hostile work environment, that all derogatory material be removed from her personnel file, recognition of the discrimination and actions to mend her reputation and that of the HRRM program and the university. Cox said her intention is not to mar SOU�s reputation. "I am not proud of what I�m doing," she said. "I don�t want my university to suffer, but there is no way I can hold my head up anymore." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA