‘Culture of fear’ at Western Washington University after auditors fired, prompting lawsuits and resignations By Asia Fields, The Seattle Times
Published: December 28, 2020, 8:01am
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The internal audit office at Western Washington University is tasked with investigating and preventing legal and financial risk. But it has instead become the epicenter of sudden firings, lawsuits and even a police escort from a board of trustees meeting in recent years.
After one former auditor sued, claiming he was pushed out over an audit of a former president’s travel expenses, Western settled for $216,000.
His successor, Antonia Allen, sued the university earlier this month for alleged retaliation and wrongful termination. Allen was fired soon after her office completed a contentious audit into the use of “ghost courses” to pad students’ credit loads, which her office reported as fraud to federal investigators.