Civil rights lawsuit brought against SUNY Geneseo

Much of the information in the currently released legal documents is alleged and has not been proved true nor false. The Lamron does not take an official stance on the case and will report facts as fairly and impartially as possible.

On Mar. 30 of this year, documents became public outlining a pending civil rights lawsuit against SUNY Geneseo brought up by former Vice President for College Advancement and Geneseo Foundation Executive Director Kathy J. Bowles. In addition to the college, Bowles is suing members of the Geneseo administration and the Geneseo Foundation, including but not limited to President Denise Battles, Assistant Vice President for Human Resources Julie Briggs, Professor Harry Howe, and five members of the Geneseo Foundation executive board. 

According to public legal documents outlining the case, Bowles is suing because she alleges that she was paid less than and treated differently than her male predecessors and subordinates; the Geneseo Foundation board members cultivated a highly hostile work environment, and her complaints were met with retaliation by Battles and members of the Geneseo Foundation, leading to her termination. 

Bowles was hired for the position of Advancement VP in 2016 and is the first woman to hold the position. In addition to her role as Advancement VP, she also held the position of Executive Director of the Geneseo Foundation. According to Bowles in court documents, she was paid $205,264 in 2017 while her male predecessor was paid $246,821 the year previous, despite Bowles’s higher qualifications and more substantial experience. Additionally, Bowles’s predecessors were paid extra for additional duties they performed as part of the Geneseo Foundation, while Bowles was not. 

Allegedly, while she was employed by both the college and the foundation, the majority-male foundation board cultivated a hostile and sexist work environment, making inappropriate advances, touching without consent, and openly admitting to cultivating a “boy’s club” environment. Complaints on the matter made to Battles were met with indifference and seeming familiarity with the board members’ conduct. 

Accusations of inappropriate conduct and comments are not limited to Bowles, as two other female employees made complaints of harassment and intimidation against Camiolo in 2019. 

In court documents, Bowles alleged that foundation board members “regularly engage in misconduct with utter impunity,” including a 2018 incident at a Geneseo alumni event wherein board member John Camiolo kissed Bowles directly on the mouth without consent in front of a crowd. In addition, Bowles alleges that she was pressured to hire a white male friend of board member Kevin Gavagan, and she was repeatedly harassed via phone call and email upon her refusal on the grounds that the hiring would have violated fair hiring procedures. Bowles claims that her complaints about the conduct of the board members and her unfair compensation led to her effective demotion and eventual firing in Mar. 2019. 

According to Bowles in court documents, she took a family medical leave in “late 2018 to early 2019.” During this time, Justin Johnson was appointed as Interim Advancement VP by Battles. During his tenure he was treated differently than Bowles, with board members repeatedly siding with Johnson over Bowles despite her authority as Executive Director. The board lessened their oversight and requirements, declined to discipline Johnson for acting outside of proper disbursement policies, and compensated Johnson for “additional duties” as previous male Advancement VPs had been, though it was not made clear what these additional duties were. 

Bowles alleges that when she was fired, the final decision was not made by the Geneseo Foundation board or by President Battles but was “made by the president of another SUNY university – a friend of President Battles’.” Bowles claims that this was done in order to shift legal blame away from Battles, the college, and the foundation should a civil rights lawsuit like this be brought against the college. 

Currently in front of the court are motions by the foundation defendants and the college defendants to dismiss a portion of Bowles’ complaints. This is an ongoing legal case, and The Lamron will continue to report on its progress as more information is released.