Board puts Bates Technical College president on leave, doesn't say why

TACOMA, Wash. — The president of Bates Technical College was put on paid administrative leave Tuesday night by the college’s board following an inquiry.

After the board met for nearly three hours in executive session, it reconvened in a public session and voted 3-1 to place president Ron Langrell on paid leave until its next meeting on Feb. 6. There is one vacant seat on the board.

Board members would not comment on why Langrell was placed on paid administrative leave or on the nature of the inquiry. Attempts to reach Langrell Tuesday night were not successful.

Board member Cathy Pearsall-Stipek was the sole “no” vote. Before board member Anthony Anderson made a motion to place Langrell on paid administrative leave, Pearsall-Stipek moved to wait on taking action until their next meeting, but her motion failed for lack of a second.

Anderson made a motion “that we follow the recommendation that was given to us today, that is to place Dr. Langrell on paid administrative leave until we can come back with a final decision.”

That decision is expected to be made at the board’s next meeting. Until then, Lin Zhou, the vice president of institutional effectiveness and student success, will serve as interim president.

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According to the board's agenda, it convened into executive session to discuss the following items, as allowed by state law:

• To receive and evaluate complaints or charges brought against a public officer or employee
• To discuss with legal counsel representing the agency matters relating to agency enforcement actions, or to discuss with legal counsel representing the agency litigation or potential litigation to which the agency, the governing body, or a member acting in an official capacity is, or is likely to become, a party, when public knowledge regarding the discussion is likely to result in an adverse legal or financial consequence to the agency.

A public records request filed by The News Tribune in December returned information about three formal complaints against Langrell during his tenure at Bates.

In 2014, a former dean of instruction said she was discriminated against, claiming she was laid off from her job at age 61 “despite exemplary performance and replaced with younger, Caucasian men,” according to a tort claim form. The outcome of that complaint is unclear.

In another complaint, received in July 2016, a job applicant claimed he was discriminated against because of his age after he interviewed but wasn’t hired for the position of director of human resources. Records show the state Human Rights Commission found no reasonable cause for that claim, meaning there was not sufficient evidence to show an unfair practice had occurred.

The college’s response to a records request showed that a complainant filed a formal complaint against Langrell on Nov. 16 to the human resources department. It doesn’t give the nature of the complaint, and the college is withholding records about the complaint and the investigation because it said the investigation is still active.

Langrell started his tenure as president of Bates in July 2012. His LinkedIn page shows that he was executive vice president of Riverland Community College in Minnesota, where he worked for seven years before coming to Tacoma. Before that, he spent 16 years working at Walla Walla Community College, most recently as its vice president of instruction.

KIRO