The California State University system will pay $343,920 in restitution to the outgoing president of Cal State San Bernardino — who was named in a discrimination and harassment lawsuit that cost CSU $12 million — as part of his one-year “transitional” stipend, Chancellor Mildred Garcia announced Wednesday.
Garcia praised President Tomás Morales during the board of trustees meeting for his “outstanding leadership at Cal State San Bernardino and the entire program.” He didn’t talk about the case.
The lawsuit, filed in 2023 by two former Cal State San Bernardino administrators, accused Morales of sexism and alleged “harassment” of female employees. It also alleged that she failed to guarantee equal pay to her male colleagues and created an environment where harassment was “a standard operating procedure.” In addition to Morales, the lawsuit names his former supervisor and the CSU Board of Trustees.
The lawsuit said Morales’ allegations were reported to then-Chancellor Jolene Koester, who “did nothing,” and that the university allegedly retaliated against administrators for raising concerns about Morales and the former professor.
Morales did not respond to emailed requests for comment. In court documents, Morales, the former manager and the Board of Trustees denied all allegations in the case.
In a statement sent by CSU spokeswoman Amy Bentley-Smith, the university said the lawsuit against Morales and CSU “did not result in an individual finding, and the results of the lawsuits do not indicate where the employee stands.”
The statement said Morales remains in “good condition,” a category that qualifies him for the new transition job.
The university system, which has been plagued by sexual harassment scandals for years, resolved it in March. In its statement, the CSU denied all wrongdoing and said it “entered into the agreement to avoid further litigation costs.”
Morales’ reform plan drew ire from intellectual leadership groups.
Morales announced last year – before the case was settled – that he would step down as president at the end of the 2025-26 academic year.
On Wednesday, CSU announced the appointment of a new president for the San Bernardino campus. Terri Gomez, a 27-year veteran of higher education and a lifelong resident of the Inland Empire, is currently the provost and vice president of Academic Affairs at Cal Poly Pomona, the university said in a statement. He is a first-generation college student who began his higher education journey at San Bernardino Valley College.
She joined Cal Poly Pomona in 1999 as a faculty member in the Department of Ethnic and Women’s Studies. His academic leadership roles at the university include interim dean, vice president for Student Success, and associate provost for Student Success, Equity and Innovation, the statement said.
Morales, as part of his transition work, will be there to mentor Gomez. He will also “focus on advancing CSU’s international relations and strengthening international relations,” Garcia said.
He said Morales’ salary is in line with the university’s “transition plan” for officials, which CSU said helps recruit people to senior positions in competitive markets and ensures that the institution’s knowledge is preserved when university leaders resign from their positions.
Andrew Friedman, the attorney who represented the two former administrations in their case, called Morales’ payment “a real disgrace.”
“CSU has a big problem when it comes to dealing with gender discrimination and harassment and retaliation and we’ve seen nothing so far to show that it’s taking this issue seriously,” said Friedman, a partner at Helmer Friedman LLP.
In a May news conference, President of the California Faculty Assn.’s San Bernardino Chapter Tiffany Jones said firing Morales would be “a spectacular failure of accountability and a direct betrayal of students, faculty and staff.”
“At a time when campuses are facing budget challenges, staff shortages, and growing student needs, CSU’s resources should not be used to fund failed leadership,” Jones said in a news release.
The reform program at CSU began in 1981.
In 2022, the Times reported that the CSU routinely approved reform programs for former administrators, including those accused of wrongdoing, allowing them to collect annual salaries for work such as providing “advice and counseling” to CSU administrators, but did not track what the officials did while they were being paid.
After an investigation by The Times, CSU said it is suspending the program until the Board of Trustees reviews the recommendations of the task force.
The university later decided that administrators hired after March 2022 will no longer participate in this program.
CSU spokeswoman Bentley-Smith did not immediately respond to questions about what other changes, if any, have been made.
The 2023 lawsuit against Morales also named Jake Zhu, a former dean at Cal State San Bernardino’s Palm Springs campus who reported to Morales. The lawsuit accuses Zhu of torture and promoting an environment where torture is allowed.
After reporting harassment concerns to Zhu, colleague Anissa Rogers was forced to resign, the lawsuit alleges.
Zhu could not be reached for comment.
Rogers’ claims went to trial and a jury awarded him $6 million, which was not covered by the settlement. Rogers no longer works at CSU.
At Cal State San Bernardino’s main campus, former Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Clare Weber in a 2023 lawsuit said Morales harassed and discriminated against her and other female employees and retaliated when she raised her concerns.
Weber says that after raising concerns about the gender pay gap, she was forced to resign from her job as vice provost and was fired when she refused to do so.
The settlement agreement, provided by Weber’s attorney, required him to resign his professional position.
In written remarks to the board of trustees before Wednesday’s meeting, both Weber and Rogers called for a more detailed review of Morales’ record.
“I’m not clear … how to make a review of whether the president is in good standing,” Weber said in an interview after Morales’ annual job was announced. “It feels like a slap in the face.”
Hours after Garcia announced Morales’ revolutionary work, the Board of Trustees met to vote to give him the title of professor emeritus. Before the vote, Garcia also praised Morales, calling him a lifelong friend and saying that during his time at the helm of Cal State San Bernardino, graduation rates rose and “equity gaps” narrowed.
The board then unanimously voted to give him the title of vacate and then gave a standing ovation. Morales said he is “thankful for this honor.”
Times staff writer Colleen Shalby contributed to this story.
