Book: Wild Justice

R >> Ruth M. Sprague >> Wild Justice




A young woman of exceptional intelligence and ability,
Andrea had graduated from Belmont, summa cum laude,
with a BA, after completion of a double, self-designed major.
Because of her great love and knowledge of books, she found
employment in the library where she soon became indispensable.
There were those at Belmont who recognized and revered
exceptional ability and were not threatened by it.

On being questioned as to what she knew about work conditions in NERD,
she observed that from what she had heard from Diana, it wasn't a very
happy place to work. Directing her answer toward Trenchant, she divulged,
"You were not my only source for this information. My aunt works in the
department and I heard from both of you enough to form that impression.

"Just last month, my aunt told me that you may have been given
an excessive course load in an attempt to break your spirit
or drive you out of the department, much in the same way that
she was given a very minimum salary increase, in an attempt
to get her to move on."

Andrea continued by confirming that the laboratory manual that
had been used in the course for two years was indeed written by Diana
in her own home, with her own equipment and on her own time.
She, Andrea, had witnessed this and had helped with the proof reading.

Feigning a bored expression that he did not feel, Henry asked
if she had any evidence specific to the critiques in question.

"No, nothing specific, except if she were out to discredit
someone on the faculty, she would certainly have brains
enough to do something effective--not play with SmurFFs,"
Andrea delivered, with a chuckle. Then she continued in a serious,
almost censoring tone, "I'm surprised that you actually take this
charge seriously. You should have better sense. The whole campus
is laughing at you."

As Henry seemed on the verge of apoplexy, Anuse quickly
asked who her aunt was.

Andrea looked directly at him and answered, "Dr. Biggot.
She teaches nutrition to the freshman medical students."

Esther wanted to be clear. "Your aunt confirmed in both cases,
hers and Trenchant, that this was an underlying way of getting rid of them."

"Exactly. She felt that they were not welcome in the department
and that this was a way to encourage them to move on."

"Now, we'll have no more of this," Henry interjected,
"we really can't take second hand information here.
I have already warned you people on the panel about this."

"All I did was have her repeat what she'd said already,"
Esther squeaked, "I didn't ask the question."

Henry was not pacified by her remark. More information
positive toward Trenchant was being presented then he was
willing to hear--or then he wanted the panel to hear.
He turned to Trenchant and said harshly, "your witnesses must
address the charge here. Since this witness does not have any
information directly relating to that charge, she is excused."

Andrea glanced at Diana who nodded, then smiling brightly,
she thanked the panel for listening and left the room.

"Eventually, I will call witness that will speak directly
to the charge you refer to. Right now, since you have allowed
massive testimony against me that had nothing to do with
the specific charge you keep referring to, I mean to respond
to all of those allegations.

"You wrote me a letter which I have here, saying that
the hearing would not be conducted with strict rules.
You stated that I could present anything that I deemed important
and that is what I am doing. And, in a much briefer manner
than you have presented the evidence against me. I'll remind you
that you allowed plenty of hearsay testimony when your witnesses
were testifying."

Henry let out an exasperated breath, turned toward the panel
and said, "I think we'd better break for lunch and discuss how
much of this irrelevant material we are prepared to listen to.
We also will have to consider having Ann Biggot testify and bring
Lyle back. We cannot let these unsubstantiated charges stand."

At the word lunch, the stenographer packed up her gear with
alacrity and headed out the door closely followed by Trenchant.
No words were exchanged this time, just a mutual groan of relief
at their escape.




Chapter 18


Lunch was again catered to the upstairs witnesses' waiting room.
A rather pensive panel gathered around the table to help themselves
to sandwiches, fruit, cookies and a beverage.

Henry had the floor and continued to speak while they were
getting their food. "There is a limit as to how much
of this insignificant twaddle we should allow."

"I agree," Frank Anuse said, firmly. "We should tell her that we will
hear no more testimony from these witnesses of hers unless it bears
on the specific charge--she did write and submit those evaluations.
The document examiner was certain of it."

"Well, I don't agree," Jane spoke sharply. "I, for one,
didn't find that document examiner particularly convincing."

"How can you say that?" Anuse blurted. "She had impeccable credentials.
She's allowed to testify in court. Never been refused, she said.
Mark told us that handwriting is as exact and individual as fingerprints."

"I'm not convinced," returned Jane. "She had no independently researched
data on her success vs failure ratio. You heard her say, `in her opinion,'
she was 100% correct. Bull. Nobody's perfect."

Glancing at the two other women, Henry observed them nodding
their heads in agreement. Trenchant had made some other good
points, he thought. She picked up on the lack of original
standards and cited that rule in the faculty handbook that
forbade an individual's personnel file from being revealed to
others without the individual's permission. Damn the woman.
This hearing was supposed to be a lead pipe cinch and all it had
been so far was trouble. I'd better call for Mark to come over
and talk to them. Perhaps even have him testify. Mark could say
the right things to bring the women around. . .if only he didn't
bore them to distraction first.

As he walked toward the phone, he couldn't help but feel
a bit chagrined that his own letter had been read back
to him--the one he'd sent Trenchant outlining the rules
for the hearing. He had meant for it to be intimidating.
Didn't think she'd find anyone who'd dare to testify.

Downstairs, Diana and her witnesses were lolling about in comfort,
eating and drinking the results of a MacDonald's run that Roz and Helen
had made.

She had been telling them about Lyle's testimony when James
suddenly jumped to his feet crying, "say again!"

Repeating herself, Diana asked, "What's the problem."

"No problem. You said he testified that the new evaluation
forms were sent up from the dean's office on the tenth of
December last year, right? And he found the `suspect'
evaluations sometime during that same week?"

"That's what he said. What is it, James? You look so excited!"

" Don't you remember? Don't you remember what happened to you
Thanksgiving Day last year--the injury to your wrist, your right wrist?
You weren't writing anything until a couple of days before Christmas
and even then it was painful for you. You were wearing that wrist support
all the time for well over a month."

"My God, I had forgotten that. Are you sure of the dates?
I just remember the December labs were hell because I couldn't
do the boards."

"Absolutely. I remember coming back from spending Thanksgiving
at home and you were soaking your wrist which was all swollen up
and remember, you wore that brace and couldn't write and. . ."

"I remember the wrist brace," cried Jennifer. "You had me
write things on the board for you at my lab because you couldn't."

"Me too," chimed in Roz.

"James, Jennifer, Roz, will you tell that to the panel
in addition to what you already plan to testify to?"

"Sure, no problem."

"Betcherass!"

"That will really give this charge against you the deep six
along with Sarah's testimony," Roz said excitedly as the whole
bunch of happy people left their food and joined each other
in a wild victory dance. Premature for sure, but the powerless
and the innocent naively take their joy where they can find it.

When the hearing commenced again, the panel appeared subdued,
and listlessly turned over pages of notes as Henry told Diana
to call her next witness and cautioned her that, "they should
be addressing the specific charge here."

"Just a moment," Jane demanded. "Before we have the next witness,
I'd like to ask you a question, Diana. You said earlier that you were
not free to call witnesses from your department. Why?"

Trenchant, who was on her way to the door to get her next witness,
paused and said, "They asked me not to. They felt it would be impossible
for them to testify since they most probably would contradict their chairman."

"You are saying they are afraid to testify?"

"That's correct. Just like you saw Jean was. Her knowledge
and belief in me was the only thing that made it possible
for her to overcome her fear of losing her position.

"It is much worse for people in my department and for that matter
for medical students who have not been allowed to testify.
Things can be made very difficult for them."

Esther pursued, "Are you stating that Lyle has discussed
this case with the department?"

"Oh, yes. Very definitely. After he accused me, he went in
to Ann Biggot's office and told her. My job was offered
to two people in the department around the same time.
Lyle has told others besides me that this hearing is only a formality.
Remember, he's the one that decides the raises."

"What sort of thing could people in your department testify about?"

"They could substantiate what I have said about the negligent,
careless way the evaluation process is carried out and how little
import is placed on it. They could confirm that the evaluations
were often laying around on someone's desk or in the secretaries' office.

"They could explain that the evaluations got mixed together
from year to year and unless one happened to be dated,
there was no way to separate one year from the next."

"They could tell you the reason for the problems that occurred
in the radiology course and affirm that my manual was plagiarized.

"Being right there where the business of the department is
carried out, they could tell you that one of Lyle's first acts
when he came into the department six years ago was to eliminate
my position. When I protested this act of discrimination to the
Attorney General's Office and they brought charges, he claimed
that he had only told me that he would keep me if he had the funds. . ."

"You are saying. . .you are painting a picture of suspicion and
allegation that are hearsay and unsubstantiated," Anuse interrupted,
bald pate aflame with anger.

"Correct. And we've heard tons of unsubstantiated hearsay
in testimony from previous witnesses."

"That doesn't matter. We are only interested in these documents,
nothing else. Those are side issues and not a part of this investigation."

"They most certainly are a part of it. If what you say is true,
the dean would have just written one sentence in his letter.
He would have written, `I want her out of here because. . . .'
Instead, he wrote two pages filled with unsubstantiated hearsay
and charges of insubordination and dishonesty based on Lyle's
accusation and I want to answer them!"

"Nonsense, the charges are clear. You forged seven SmurFFs.
The rest was only a chronology of the events."

"But the chronology is untrue and biased."

"No. Everything is based on the testimony of the handwriting witness,
we just filter through the rest of the material." Anuse turned to the chair,
a bored look on his face. "We waste time with this useless trivia."
He had just spent the last few minutes in full sneer, trying his best
to beat Trenchant to her knees with the sheer force of his position
of power. Forced to desist by the negative vibes he was getting
from most of the panel, he took refuge in assuming the victor's pose.

"The panel asked the question, `why didn't I have witnesses from
the department.' I merely answered it," retorted Trenchant, pugnaciously.

"Call your next witness." Henry fairly bellowed as he tried
for the last word.

"I shall, but first I want to point out that the charges against me
contain the words taken from the faculty handbook, `serious breaches
of generally accepted moral standards in the profession. . .'

"I submit to you that the copyright infringements committed by Ian and
Randy were also serious breaches of generally accepted moral standard
in the profession and Chairman Lyle Stone condoned them.

"Now I'll get my next witness." said Diana, heading once again for the door.

James Prouty walked into the hearing room and looked around.
"Take that seat there, please." Henry motioned toward the seat
opposite the panel.

"Oh," said James, in a surprised tone of voice. "I understood from someone
who had testified earlier that the witnesses sat across from Diana."

"Well. . ." the chair cleared his throat and looked uncomfortable.
"Things get shifted around, you know. Sit right there and be sworn in."

That James, thought Diana, barely stifling her laughter,
trust him to say something disconcerting. He knew darn well
that there was a different seating arrangement for the two sets
of witnesses because she had told him about it.

Under questioning, James Prouty said that he had rented a room
in Diana's home for four and one half years. He could and would
affirm that she had written a radiology manual at her home computer.

He could also confirm the great animosity held against her
by the former chair of NERD, Jimbo Jones, who was now one of the
many associate academic vice presidents. James had been a
work/study student in NERD and had heard Jimbo yell and verbally
hammer at Diana any number of times.

"As you all are aware," James said, smiling at the panel,
"besides the five medical student SmurFFs, there are two SmurFFs
that Dr. Jones is said to have found in the Nursing Nutrition
course that he lectures in."

"And that the document examiners are sure Diana wrote,"
Anuse crowed, breaking in triumphantly. "But all this tells
us nothing new concerning the charge. This is repetitive,
time wasting information. Mr. Chairman, may we get on with it."

"James, were you living in my home last December?"

"Yes, I was."

"Would you please tell in your own words why I could not have printed
or written the two `suspicious' evaluations found by Lyle who claims
they were written and submitted by me that year?"

James turned his agreeable, smiling face once more toward
the panel and said clearly, "Because you sprained your right
wrist and were unable to write or use it until shortly before
Christmas Day, the 25th."

"How do you confirm that I could not write?"

"Several ways. For example, I saw the swollen condition of
your wrist daily and observed your limited use of that hand.
Telephone messages for me were left on the printer when they
used to be handwritten in notes."

Leaning toward the panel, James confided, "You see, she could
one-finger the computer keys with her left hand.

"I filled out the order forms for her children's Christmas presents
that year since she was unable to write enough to complete them.

"Around the 22nd or 23rd of December, she could use her hand
well enough to write the checks for her bills. It was painful
for her and she had some difficulty doing this. We made a joke
of it--whether they would turn off the electricity or telephone
because the signatures on her checks were not at all like her
normal signature."

Questions exploded from the panel like hail on a tin roof.
"Was her wrist wrapped?" "Did she have a brace?" "Did she
see a doctor?"

Although Diana had not completed her examination of her own witness,
the panel jumped in and took over the questioning.

Henry, feeling decidedly undermined by this testimony,
decided not to interrupt this flurry of out-of-order questioning.
He realized that this tactic of interrupting greatly hampered
the smooth flow of information a witness had to give. It also served
to confuse the witness since questions were coming from more than
one panel member at a time. He decided that he would not stop it.

He never paused to think that the transcript of the hearing
would show that Diana was interrupted in this manner more than
twenty times. This would become significant when the Attorney
General made the report of her investigation.

James waited until the panel ran out of questions and started
to look sheepishly at one another, then he said, "Yes, her wrist
was wrapped. She did not see a doctor but was treating it herself."

Now the panel turned its attention toward Diana in one of
the frequent times they questioned her in front of a witnesses.
"When did you write the Christmas note to Lyle, then?"
This question directed at Diana came from Esther.

She answered firmly, "The twenty-fourth, the day before Christmas.
It was still painful for me to write then and I was still wearing the brace.
As you will observe, it is a very short note."

Well, this is not getting us anywhere, thought Henry, and
I'd better put a stop to it. "I fail to see what all this
has to do with the charge," he complained, petulantly.

Diana was ready for that one and answered succinctly,
"According to Lyle's testimony, he received the unused student
evaluation forms for that year from the dean's office on the
tenth of December. Lyle testified that they were given out
to the students the same day. He could not remember the exact
day that he claims to have found the `suspect' evaluations,
but he did say that he found them sometime during the same week.
During that time I could not use my right hand and I was not
doing any writing, or printing for that matter."

"Oh." The sigh that went with it escaped before Henry could
even realize the `Oh' had departed from his mouth. He looked
frantically at Anuse who appeared to have lost it and just
shrugged his shoulders at Henry's glance.

Wanting to spare James, if possible, from attack by either
Henry or Anuse when they recovered from shock, Diana quickly
said, "Thank you, James."

As soon as James had left, Diana continued, "Before I
get to the next witness, I refer you again to this memo."
Trenchant replied. She held the paper aloft in her hand.
"Contained in the memo Lyle wrote to Dean Broadhurst is
the assertion that on March seventeenth, he `discussed
the charges with me and recommended that I resign.'
This is patently false. He accused. He demanded.
He was angry. He yelled. He said, `you must resign,
you have no recourse. The president, the vice president
and the academic council have met and demanded your resignation.'
He would not listen to me. He repeated several times that I
had been nothing but trouble to him ever since I took him
to court six years ago.

"He was abusive and he was angry. He said nothing about a hearing.
When I got a word in edgewise, I told him that I was going to contact
the ombudsman and he said that I couldn't--that I had no recourse.

"Later on when he finally stopped yelling and heard me
deny his charges, he told me that since I would not resign,
there would be a hearing but it wouldn't matter. It was just
a formality. I would be terminated, no matter what."

"You should have brought that up when Lyle was here so
we would have his response." Henry returned vigorously.
I have to get on top of this hearing and stay there no matter what,
he thought.

"Should I have? I'm not a lawyer and I'm not trying to be one.
The University Ombudsman told me not to have a lawyer present.
He said it would just anger you and turn you against me.
He advised me to prepare my case well and present it
in good order and that is just what I am doing.

"Right now, I am telling you my side of this story. You have
been listening for hours to the NERD's allegations and I have
the right to respond. At the beginning of this hearing,
you announced that the panel would question its witnesses
and then I would cross examine them. You never said anything
about debating them. You have already heard from Lyle.
Again I remind you that your letter to me, sent in advance
of this hearing, contained nothing about specific order
of presenting my evidence. Should I read it to you again?
You are trying to introduce new rules in the middle of the game."

"Mr. Chairman, I think that we must ask Lyle back here to
clear up these fabricated charges we have been hearing,"
said Anuse in a bored tone. He made a note and then
looked toward Henry again. His look plainly said, ignore her.

"Yes," the chair agreed. Then offhandedly, as if he had not
heard a word of her argument, he said to Diana, "call your next witness."

Jane watched the interchange between Henry and Anuse with disdain.
They are in league together against Diana, she thought and this
testimony has thrown them for a loop. They are going to have to start
considering the information we are hearing in a professional,
impartial manner now. They have got to concede that these charges
by NERD may be false or at the very least, unsupported by real evidence.
So many things about this hearing are strange. I've noticed that although
the charge against Diana, initiated by Lyle, specifically related to the
five `suspect' medical student evaluations, three other documents
were sent to the document examiners and were marked as evidence,
she mused. No one has questioned how these other documents were
deemed `harmful to two young faculty members', as Lyle claimed in
his charges. According to the dean's letter, two are `suspect' SmurFFs
from the nursing nutrition course and the third is a printed note found
by one of Lyle's closest friends. The explanation for the note Henry
gave us was that when Lyle told his friend what was going on,
she `just remembered' a note found in her mailbox last year
that she thought was `suspicious' so they sent that to the
document examiners as well.

The examiners concluded that one of the nursing nutrition
evaluations was written by Diana. The other and the printed note
they were unsure of. I'm beginning to feel like Alice in
Wonderland. Jane rubbed her eyes and studied her notes again.
How do they expect to prove that this hodgepodge of unrelated
evidence threatens two men who only teach in the radiation course?




Chapter 19


When the nursing students heard that some of their evaluations
had been sent off campus, in defiance of an explicit ruling pertaining
to student confidentiality, Diana was blitzed with students clamoring
to testify at her hearing so they could protest this indecency.
As a group, they obtained hundreds of signatures on a petition
requesting the A.C.L.U. to take up their cause. The A.C.L.U
was most sympathetic, but on finding that the evaluations sent
were not signed, felt there was nothing they could do.

The students argued that since the administration put such emphasis
on handwriting identification, it might use this method to identify
the writers of SmurFFs, which were supposed to be anonymous.

The group sent a strong letter of protest to The Pope and continued
their campaign across campus. One of the leaders of these
concerned students, Jennifer Glass, was the next witness for Diana.


Jennifer Glass worked in a downtown social service agency full time.
She was taking the nursing nutrition course under the Continuing
Education Department.

A rather large woman of thirty, she dressed well and showed
no embarrassment or nervousness. She was educated extensively
in New York State schools and had graduated an education major.
Erudite and accomplished, she faced the panel with a most
positive sense of anticipation.

"Yes," she answered the direct examination question posed by Diana,
"I am in your nutrition lab and I have talked with you extensively
about the way evaluations are handled in the medical school.

"I came to you first to complain, thinking that the department
was lax leaving them around in the lecture hall. I or anyone else
could have filled out any number of them, since we were told to leave
our finished evaluations in the NERD office. I was disturbed that
the students were not taking them seriously. It seemed to indicate
to me that the nutrition course was not considered important enough
to be properly evaluated. That bothered me.

"You assured me that the evaluation process wasn't unique
to the nursing course and took me to the NERD office to see
how the medical students evaluation was conducted.

"I was appalled. Throughout my training, it was stressed
how important the process is. At the colleges I attended,
they were taken seriously--a representative from the student
government would sign out the required number of forms from
the administration official and bring them to the classroom.

"All teachers or instructors had to leave the room while
we filled out our evaluation. They were collected, counted
and brought back to the administration official. The data was
given to the instructor but never the evaluations themselves
because student confidentiality was considered to be an
important step in the process.

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