The legal battles at Texas Southern University (TSU) continue as former police chief Mary Young alleges she was dismissed for trying to intervene in an alleged inappropriate relationship between the university's ex-president and a male officer. Young, who served as police chief at TSU since mid-2017, is embroiled in a federal lawsuit claiming retaliation after she warned against what she believed to be an "embarrassingly inappropriate" relationship, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Young was placed on administrative leave amid allegations of an overtime and payroll fraud scheme. TSU claims that she "committed fraud against the university" resulting in thousands of dollars of losses for work that officers did not actually complete, as reported by ABC13. Despite these allegations, Young maintains that the dispute is linked to her whistleblowing efforts regarding the former president, Lesia Crumpton-Young, and her relationship with a campus police officer, which included late-night visits and the exchange of expensive gifts.
In the ongoing legal tussle, Young's lawyers have been pushing for the release of public records they believe might shed light on the ex-president's relationship to the officer, a process which has been dragged out for nearly a year, said Benjamin L. Hall III, Young's attorney, who claims an unreasonable delay in public records request response, as per the Houston Chronicle. Moreover, TSU is presently challenging an order from the Texas Attorney General's Office that demanded these records be disclosed.
Reflecting a complex tangle of accusations, Young alleges sex discrimination, harassment, and a hostile work environment, in addition to the retaliation claims. On the other hand, TSU's narrative, points to Young's authorization of unwarranted compensation like "lead officer" bonuses and additional pay for training activities that were neither authorized by HR, or TSU's president, nor the board of regents, as described by ABC13. The root of TSU's argument for Young's termination rests on an audit report suggesting financial mismanagement orchestrated by Young – a point she vigorously disputes.
As the court skirmishes wage on, Young continues to assert her innocence and her attorney has pointed to signs of an underlying motive behind her ousting – suggesting that the officer in question, may have had a hand in the alleged abuse of power, according to the federal lawsuit. "Based on subsequent facts discovered by Plaintiff, it appears the subordinate officer — with the probable knowledge and support of Crumpton-Young — fabricated the complaint against Plaintiff as a pretext to get rid of Plaintiff," reads the document in a statement obtained by the Houston Chronicle. Amidst these claims, both Young and TSU seek to clear their names while the legal saga unfolding at this Houston institution weaves progressively intricate patterns of accusation and defense.
