Frazier, Peetz, Masser, and Erickson get Penn State sued for defamation. Congratulations.
To: Penn State Trustees
cc: alumni networking
I just finished browsing through Graham Spanier's defamation complaint against Louis Freeh and Penn State (http://freehreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/1-Complaint-in-Spanier-v.-Freeh-and-Penn-State.pdf). It cites Trustees Keith Masser, Kenneth Frazier, and Karen Peetz along with former President Rodney Erickson explicitly for breaching Penn State's separation agreement with Dr. Spanier, and then defaming him. One would expect the President of the Bank of New York, and the CEO of the Merck Corporation, to know better than to disparage employees or former employees, and I suspect their human resource departments have policies against this, but apparently they didn't know better. So, here we are.
As stated in the complaint,
384. Penn State breached the Separation Agreement by holding Penn State-organized
and sponsored press conferences on July 12, 2012 and July 13, 2012 in
which President Erickson, Trustee Kenneth Frazier, and Trustee Karen Peetz made
numerous negative comments about Dr. Spanier, including:
• "Judge Freeh's Report is both sad and sobering . Our administrative
leadership also failed. Judge Freeh's Report concludes that that the moment
of truth, people who are in a position to protect children, and to confront a
predator - including people at the highest levels of responsibility in the
University - specifically, Graham Spanier, Joe Paterno, Tim Curley, and
Gary Schultz, did not put the welfare of children first." (Kenneth Frazier)
• In response to a question about whether the Board felt misled by Dr.
Spanier: "I would say that we feel concerned and misled in the entire
situation. Though we're taking responsibility And so each of the
individuals I would say have let us down significantly." (Peetz)
387. Penn State failed to use reasonable efforts to cause Frazier and Peetz
not to make negative comments about Dr. Spanier to the media, his professional
colleagues, and the public. Penn State in fact organized the press conference and
published it on its website, and Penn State President Erickson appeared at and
participated in the press conference with Frazier and Peetz.
397. Trustee Masser stated in a June 2012 interview with the Associated
Press that Dr. Spanier was "involved in a cover-up" of Sandusky's criminal
activities. A copy of this interview is attached to this Complaint as Exhibit F.
408. During a pre-planned, in-person, group interview with a New York
Times reporter in New Jersey on January 18, 2012, the Trustees made the
following statements about Dr. Spanier, all of which breach the Separation
Agreement:
• "The trustees, over three hours, described how they had felt blindsided by
Spanier's failure to keep them informed of the nature and scope of the
Pennsylvania attorney general's investigation of Sandusky, along with the investigation of university officials."
"Part of being a leader at this level is to be a risk manager and to think
through what might happen,' the trustee Karen B. Peetz, an executive with
Bank of New York Mellon, said of Spanier."
[My observation; she should have indeed done that before she affirmed the Freeh Report's findings without the Board's authorization, as well as engaging in the conduct described in Dr. Spanier's complaint.]
Just for the record, here is part of an E-mail I sent to the Board on December 1, 2011.
"When a gentleman admits he has done something wrong and makes the matter right, other gentlemen act as if the lapse in judgment and character (as illustrated in this case by the Trustees' allegedly illegal emergency meeting and rush to judgment against Messers. Paterno and Spanier prior to a diligent investigation of the facts) never happened. The question that faces you tomorrow is whether the Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania State University is an organizational gentleman and is therefore worthy of the continued trust, respect, and confidence of the University's stakeholders."
The Board chose instead to proceed as it did with the result that every single alumni Trustee involved was fired, forced to resign, or forced to not run for reelection, while other Trustees such as Surma and Peetz were either forced to resign in disgrace or convinced to not seek reappointment. Tom Corbett is the first Governor in decades to not win a second term. Masser's and Frazier's depositions showed recently that the entire Board not only scapegoated Paterno, but then lied about the reason in a public statement-which makes every Trustee in question a liar whose word is now questionable not only by the Penn State community and the Legislature, but by everybody with whom he or she deals professionally or commercially. The Commonwealth Court opined that the Board was derelict in its fiduciary duty for failure to challenge the NCAA sanctions, and State Senator Yudichak said personal interests and not a Penn State agenda were driving the Board's actions. These assessments also reflect directly on every single Board member involved. The NCAA's reputation and credibility are meanwhile deservedly in ruins.
As stated by the Prince in Romeo and Juliet, "All are punished," and I cannot identify a single participant in this 3.5 year old internecine conflict except Louis Freeh (for the time being, but not for long if the lawsuits against him succeed) who is better off for having been a party to it. This is, unfortunately, what Kenneth Frazier, Keith Eckel, Keith Masser, John Surma, Karen Peetz, Rodney Erickson, and their cohorts chose for Penn State as well as for themselves, so here we are.
William A. Levinson, B.S. '78
To: Penn State Trustees
cc: alumni networking
I just finished browsing through Graham Spanier's defamation complaint against Louis Freeh and Penn State (http://freehreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/1-Complaint-in-Spanier-v.-Freeh-and-Penn-State.pdf). It cites Trustees Keith Masser, Kenneth Frazier, and Karen Peetz along with former President Rodney Erickson explicitly for breaching Penn State's separation agreement with Dr. Spanier, and then defaming him. One would expect the President of the Bank of New York, and the CEO of the Merck Corporation, to know better than to disparage employees or former employees, and I suspect their human resource departments have policies against this, but apparently they didn't know better. So, here we are.
As stated in the complaint,
384. Penn State breached the Separation Agreement by holding Penn State-organized
and sponsored press conferences on July 12, 2012 and July 13, 2012 in
which President Erickson, Trustee Kenneth Frazier, and Trustee Karen Peetz made
numerous negative comments about Dr. Spanier, including:
• "Judge Freeh's Report is both sad and sobering . Our administrative
leadership also failed. Judge Freeh's Report concludes that that the moment
of truth, people who are in a position to protect children, and to confront a
predator - including people at the highest levels of responsibility in the
University - specifically, Graham Spanier, Joe Paterno, Tim Curley, and
Gary Schultz, did not put the welfare of children first." (Kenneth Frazier)
• In response to a question about whether the Board felt misled by Dr.
Spanier: "I would say that we feel concerned and misled in the entire
situation. Though we're taking responsibility And so each of the
individuals I would say have let us down significantly." (Peetz)
387. Penn State failed to use reasonable efforts to cause Frazier and Peetz
not to make negative comments about Dr. Spanier to the media, his professional
colleagues, and the public. Penn State in fact organized the press conference and
published it on its website, and Penn State President Erickson appeared at and
participated in the press conference with Frazier and Peetz.
397. Trustee Masser stated in a June 2012 interview with the Associated
Press that Dr. Spanier was "involved in a cover-up" of Sandusky's criminal
activities. A copy of this interview is attached to this Complaint as Exhibit F.
408. During a pre-planned, in-person, group interview with a New York
Times reporter in New Jersey on January 18, 2012, the Trustees made the
following statements about Dr. Spanier, all of which breach the Separation
Agreement:
• "The trustees, over three hours, described how they had felt blindsided by
Spanier's failure to keep them informed of the nature and scope of the
Pennsylvania attorney general's investigation of Sandusky, along with the investigation of university officials."
"Part of being a leader at this level is to be a risk manager and to think
through what might happen,' the trustee Karen B. Peetz, an executive with
Bank of New York Mellon, said of Spanier."
[My observation; she should have indeed done that before she affirmed the Freeh Report's findings without the Board's authorization, as well as engaging in the conduct described in Dr. Spanier's complaint.]
Just for the record, here is part of an E-mail I sent to the Board on December 1, 2011.
"When a gentleman admits he has done something wrong and makes the matter right, other gentlemen act as if the lapse in judgment and character (as illustrated in this case by the Trustees' allegedly illegal emergency meeting and rush to judgment against Messers. Paterno and Spanier prior to a diligent investigation of the facts) never happened. The question that faces you tomorrow is whether the Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania State University is an organizational gentleman and is therefore worthy of the continued trust, respect, and confidence of the University's stakeholders."
The Board chose instead to proceed as it did with the result that every single alumni Trustee involved was fired, forced to resign, or forced to not run for reelection, while other Trustees such as Surma and Peetz were either forced to resign in disgrace or convinced to not seek reappointment. Tom Corbett is the first Governor in decades to not win a second term. Masser's and Frazier's depositions showed recently that the entire Board not only scapegoated Paterno, but then lied about the reason in a public statement-which makes every Trustee in question a liar whose word is now questionable not only by the Penn State community and the Legislature, but by everybody with whom he or she deals professionally or commercially. The Commonwealth Court opined that the Board was derelict in its fiduciary duty for failure to challenge the NCAA sanctions, and State Senator Yudichak said personal interests and not a Penn State agenda were driving the Board's actions. These assessments also reflect directly on every single Board member involved. The NCAA's reputation and credibility are meanwhile deservedly in ruins.
As stated by the Prince in Romeo and Juliet, "All are punished," and I cannot identify a single participant in this 3.5 year old internecine conflict except Louis Freeh (for the time being, but not for long if the lawsuits against him succeed) who is better off for having been a party to it. This is, unfortunately, what Kenneth Frazier, Keith Eckel, Keith Masser, John Surma, Karen Peetz, Rodney Erickson, and their cohorts chose for Penn State as well as for themselves, so here we are.
William A. Levinson, B.S. '78
