The Mary Easley termination saga is over for N.C. State — for now.
A former University faculty member and wife of ex-Gov. Mike Easley, Easley filed a grievance over her termination less than a year ago. On June 3, Chancellor Randy Woodson announced that the University dismissed the grievance.
A pair of the former first lady’s attorneys returned fire the next day, however, indicating that the dismissal might not end the grievance fight.
The grievance dismissal was “due to procedural issues,” according to a press release. “Mrs. Easley failed to respond to the University’s request to schedule a pre-hearing meeting and the grievance hearing itself,” the release continued.
Easley filed the grievance last summer, soon after interim Chancellor James Woodward cancelled Easley’s contract at the direction of the Board of Trustees. Woodward said Easley was no longer needed because many of the responsibilities listed in her job description were eliminated to make up for a state budget shortfall.
University officials declined to releases the grounds on which Easley was contesting her firing since it was a personnel matter and would not comment further.
What was clear, however, was the fallout that resulted from Mary Easley’s tenure at the University.
Easley was hired by then provost Larry Nielsen in 2005 as an executive-in-residence and lecturer. The job called for her to head up the Millennium Seminars speakers program, and to teach graduate courses in public administration and leadership for law-enforcement officers.
In 2008, the former first lady got a new deal – and a substantial raise.
The second contract was for five years and worth $850,000, a raise of more than 80 percent from Easley’s previous pay.
Ex-Chancellor James Oblinger said the raise was justified based on Easley’s new, ”additional duties,” including serving as pre-law director, liaising with area law firms and law schools, and setting up a dual degree program.
The pay controversy led to a crisis of confidence at the top levels of University administration, ultimately resulting in the resignations of Chancellor Oblinger, Provost Larry Nielsen and Chairman of the Board of Trustees McQueen Campbell.
The trio denied pulling any strings for Easley, though emails obtained by a federal grand jury indicated that “Campbell communicated with Gov. Mike Easley about a potential job at N.C. State for Mary Easley and then worked with Oblinger and Nielsen to fashion a job for her,” according to a story in The News & Observer.
Though Mary Easley and her husband have been silent on the grievance dismissal, her lawyers have not.
In a letter dated June 4 and addressed to Board of Trustees member Randall Ramsey, attorneys Wade E. Byrd and S. Luke Largess criticized the University’s actions.
The letter states that the University has no procedure on file for grieving a mid-contract termination, and “the process cobbled together by NCSU does not meet basic due process requirements. Procedurally, there was no pre-termination meeting, no continuation of salary during the proceedings, and Mrs. Easley’s counsel was not allowed to actively participate in the hearing.”
“That NCSU would claim that Mrs. Easley refused to set a hearing date, without explaining her fundamental due process concerns, seems duplicitous,” Byrd and Largess wrote.
