Officials at Orlando-based University of Central Florida College of Medicine fired a high-level executive last month following an investigation into his behavior, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
An anonymous UCF employee reportedly filed a complaint with the university's ethics hotline last July claiming David Noel, former associate vice president of administration, finance and operations at the medical school, "mistreats his employees that are women," according to a report filed by by Dawn Welkie, deputy Title IX coordinator for UCF, cited by the Orlando Sentinel.
According to Ms. Welkie, the anonymous individual who filed the complaint claimed Mr. Noel was "rude, disrespectful and humiliating" toward a female employee during a meeting. The department proceeded to interview the individual, along with 10 other male and female employees who worked with Mr. Noel.
Based on the interviews, the Title IX investigation determined Mr. Noel's behavior may be classified as "controlling, dismissive and rude" to his subordinates and peers, and those behaviors "escalated to threatening and humiliating behaviors in some cases," according to the report. However, officials determined Mr. Noel's behavior did not result in sex-based inequities.
While the Title IX investigation concluded Mr. Noel's actions did not constitute discriminatory behavior, UCF College of Medicine officials fired him roughly one week after the report was completed. Officials reportedly paid him two months of his annual $271,791 salary, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
A UCF spokesperson declined to comment to the Orlando Sentinel on the specifics of Mr. Noel's firing.