BATON ROUGE, La.
Southern University System President Ralph Slaughter has agreed to settle his whistleblower lawsuit over alleged sexual harassment by the chairman of his system’s governing board in exchange for a two-year contract and a salary supplement that will nearly double his state-funded salary of $220,000.

Slaughter had filed a lawsuit against the Board of Supervisors, two individual board members and Gov. Kathleen Blanco, claiming that they were attempting to fire him because he went public with sexual harassment complaints from nine university female employees against Southern Board Chairman Johnny Anderson, who is also the governor’s assistant chief of staff.

Slaughter was granted a temporary restraining order in July from U.S. Judge Ralph Tyson that prevented the board from firing him until the lawsuit was resolved. Tyson ordered both sides to try and negotiate a settlement, and slapped a gag order on all parties during the negotiations.

The board signed off on the proposed settlement Wednesday night, agreeing to pay Slaughter’s legal fees and gave him a contract that protects his job for two years. The deal increases his state-funded annual salary from $210,000 to $220,000 and will give him a $200,000 privately funded salary supplement through the university’s foundation. In the past, the Southern University System president served at the pleasure of the board and could be fired at any time.

Slaughter said he expects to drop the lawsuit, after the governor signs off on the settlement.

In an interview, Slaughter said the first time that he met with state negotiators, they offered him $400,000 out of the state insurance fund to settle the case. Slaughter said he asked that the money be used to set up a scholarship fund but was told that it wasn’t legally possible.

“That’s really the only thing I regret about all of this, because I wanted to do something for the students,” Slaughter said.

The case was growing increasingly expensive for the state, which was picking up the tab for 15 attorneys to defend the lawsuit.

Slaughter said his $210,000 per year salary will not supplant any funds earmarked for the university.

In granting Slaughter a temporary restraining order in July, Judge Tyson pointed to undisputed testimony from two female Southern University employees that Anderson had sexually harassed them.

Internal Auditor Linda Carr testified that Anderson asked her if she “needed a boyfriend” like him, and claimed that she may have lost a possible promotion because she shunned his advances. Carr’s supervisor testified that Anderson had instructed her not to consider Carr for the promotion, because she had previously worked in the university’s financial aid office.

A second alleged victim, Southern Alumni Secretary Cynthia Robinson, testified that Anderson asked last summer if she “needed a boyfriend.” He then allegedly attempted to kiss her, but she turned her head. At an alumni conference in Philadelphia a few weeks later, Anderson approached her and complained that she was not “giving him the attention” that he deserved.