An appellate panel had harsh words for Purdue University’s conduct in shielding a report investigating a former chancellor’s  complaint of gender discrimination and harassment against former university president France Cordova.
The Indiana Court of Appeals on Monday affirmed a Tippecanoe Circuit ruling that Purdue could not argue attorney-client privilege  or site the work-product doctrine to block the release of an independent investigator’s report to former Indiana University-Purdue University-Fort Wayne chancellor Michael Wartell.
“Purdue frets that recognizing equitable estoppel as an exception to the attorney-client privilege and the work-product doctrine ‘would have a chilling effect on the very principles on which [they] were founded,’” Judge Terry   Crone wrote for the panel in a footnote. “On the contrary, one would hope that it would have a chilling effect on the  tactics used by Purdue in this case.”
Wartell filed a formal complaint in 2011 alleging harassment and discrimination against Cordova, claiming among other things that Cordova pointed to a picture of Wartell during a meeting and said, “I am going to replace this one with a woman.’” After he reached mandatory retirement age of 65, Wartell was replaced by current chancellor Vicky Carwein.
When Wartell filed his complaint, a process was agreed to by all parties in which an independent investigator would be hired.  Indianapolis attorney John Trimble accepted the matter, but Purdue refused to allow Wartell in inspect the report produced after the investigation.
Wartell then sued Purdue, prevailing at the trial court and prompting the instant case, Purdue University v. Michael A. Wartell, 79A02-1304-PL-342.