Report: CSU system failed to investigate most sexual harassment reports or track offenders, auditor finds

A forthcoming report by the California State Auditor documents numerous systemic failures with how the California State University system handles sexual harassment complaints across its 23 campus, including Sonoma State University, according to reporting by the Los Angeles Times.

The Times, which said it reviewed a confidential draft of the audit, reported that auditors found “numerous problems and inconsistencies” with sexual harassment investigations across CSU system, the largest among public universities in the nation.

Auditors concluded that out of the more than 1,200 complaints alleging sexual harassment against CSU employees, 80% were not formally investigated, the Times reported.

Of those that were, auditors found about 38% were substantiated.

At least 150 employees were found to have repeatedly violated CSU policy, accounting for nearly a third of all sexual harassment reports, the Times reported.

Poor record keeping across the system, including at the Chancellor’s Office, compounded the failures and hampered the auditor’s investigation, the Times reported.

The 108-page report is said to focus on complaints against faculty and staff from 2018 to 2022.

It was ordered up by state lawmakers in the wake of troubling revelations across multiple campuses about shoddy or nonexistent investigations and disciplinary failures related to sexual harassment claims against CSU employees.

Reporting by the Los Angeles Times also showed CSU shelled out millions of dollars in payouts to executives who resigned in connection with those complaints.

Sonoma State was named as one of three CSU campuses on which the state auditor was to focus its investigation.

The Rohnert Park campus, and its then-President Judy Sakaki, came under scrutiny in April 2022 after The Press Democrat first reported the CSU paid a former provost $600,000 in a settlement to resolve her complaint of retaliation by Sakaki after reporting sexual harassment complaints against Patrick McCallum, Sakaki’s husband.

Two of the women who complained shared their accounts last year with The Press Democrat. One said McCallum had acted “creepy” and made her feel uncomfortable. Another said she took steps not to be alone with McCallum at social events.

Under pressure from faculty, students and top lawmakers, Sakaki stepped down last July, after announcing her separation from McCallum, who has denied wrongdoing.

Ming-Tung “Mike” Lee has led Sonoma State as president since last summer.

A CSU spokesperson told the LA Times the chancellor’s office could not comment Friday because the audit has not been publicly released.

It is due out Tuesday.

EdSource, the online education news outlet, reported that a spokesperson for the State Auditor on Friday declined to release any drafts or unofficial audits.