*A previous version of this article stated that the employee had been fired. The University of Oregon contends that she has not been fired, but is undergoing a “transition in employment” to another UO position that she requested. Stokes has not yet replied to that statement.
A University of Oregon counseling center employee says she has been fired because she signed a letter criticizing administration for accessing counseling records of a student suing the university.
Karen Stokes, former executive assistant to the director of the counseling center, emailed the counseling center staff Thursday announcing that she had been let go. This was first reported by The Register-Guard.
But the UO didn’t terminate Stokes’ position, according to university spokesperson Tobin Klinger. In an email to the Emerald, Klinger said that the university wouldn’t terminate someone for speaking up.
“The university took the concerns that she raised very seriously,” Klinger said in the email. “At her request, there is a transition in employment under way. This is the result of an employment process that began long before Ms. Stokes raised any concerns about the university actions. Despite Ms. Stokes’ assertion to the contrary, she remains employed by the university.”
Stokes and staff therapist Jennifer Morlok were the ones who said the university took counseling records without the student’s permission in February. The university says that it acquired the records because they was pertinent to the student’s lawsuit and that no one looked over the records and that they have since been returned. The university was filing a countersuit against the survivor of the alleged sexual assault, but it recently dropped the lawsuit.
Stokes believes her dissent is why she was fired. In the email, she said:
“Instead of taking our concerns to heart and recognizing the courage it took to come forward with such concerns, the UO appears to be more concerned about defending itself and attacking those who brought the ethical and legal concerns to light.”
Stokes has not yet responded to the university’s assertion that she hasn’t been terminated.
More to come.
Follow Scott Greenstone on Twitter @smgreenstone.