The Oregon State Bar is reviewing its decision not to pursue an investigation into University President Dave Frohnmayer regarding possible ethics violations.
The bar initially cleared Frohnmayer in mid-December, finding “no sufficient basis to warrant … further investigation,” according to a Dec. 14 letter written by the bar’s assistant general counsel, Cynthia Easterday, to Associate Professor William Harbaugh, who initiated the complaint.
Harbaugh accused the president of “false swearing,” a violation of the Oregon State Bar’s code of professional conduct. The accusation stems from the President’s alleged failure to report the sale of his Eugene home and a potential conflict of interest in the purchase of another home on his 2005 Oregon Verified Statement of Economic Interest. Harbaugh filed complaints against Frohnmayer and former Senior Vice President and Provost John Moseley with the state’s Government Standards and Practices Commission (GSPC), but the organization cleared both officials in late November.
The bar conducted an independent investigation of the allegation but found insufficient evidence that Frohnmayer “knowingly made a false statement.”
“It was reasonable for him to believe that the information that he submitted in his (statement of economic interest) was true, accurate and complete,” Easterday said in the Dec. 14 letter.
Frohnmayer called the allegations “foolish.”
“Members of the bar that are looking at this are incredulous that (Harbaugh) would even take himself seriously,” he said. “He put a public entity at a lot of expense for nothing.”
Harbaugh appealed the decision late last week, saying that he was surprised at the bar’s decision.
“I filed the appeal because when I looked at other cases where people had been reprimanded, this certainly seem to fit into the category of things that bar would take seriously,” he said.
He filed the complaint with the state bar and with the GSPC because he said the University administration repeatedly refused to provide public documents during his investigation into the Diversity Plan.
“I was really disturbed by the level of secrecy,” he said. “This failure to report things to the (GSPC) is part of this pattern of keeping public information private.”
Frohnmayer called Harbaugh’s hypothesis “preposterous.”
“It’s a frivolous complaint,” he said. “There’s no connection whatsoever.”
Sylvia Stevens, general counsel for the bar, said she would review the case and deliver her decision by the end of the month. Stevens’ decision will be the final word on the case.
“If I dismiss it, it’s over,” she said.
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