By Emily Bruzzo, News Editor

Published in print Jan 14, 2015.

Cohen says Carpen’s case will be heard by a judge at the Office of Administrative Hearings in Raleigh

The New Year seems to have brought with it some of last semester’s problems for UNC-Greensboro.

After half a semester of community outrage over the arrests and terminations of three University Relations employees— the “UNCG Three” as the workers have been dubbed by the public– advances in the case for one member of the trio are underway.

Lyda Carpen, a former public communications specialist, was originally charged with aiding and abetting after signing off on the falsified time sheets of Christopher English and David Wilson, two University Relations photographers she supervised.

The photographers were accused of working for their private photography business, Artisan Image, while on the clock for UNCG, as well as using department cameras and computers for the business.

The Guilford County District Attorney’s Office eventually dropped all charges against the trio, only asking that English and Wilson pay restitution to the university—$875 and $770, respectively.

Though criminal charges are no longer a threat, the three have appealed their terminations and have been trying to negotiate settlements with the university through a grievance procedure since November.

In early December, Carpen, who was unable to reach an agreement with the university during meetings with a mediation board, stood before a panel of UNCG staffers who were charged with reviewing her case and making a recommendation to Chancellor Linda Brady on how to proceed.

The News and Record reported that the panel advised Brady to uphold Carpen’s termination, and if she decided otherwise, to demote Carpen and revoke her managerial responsibilities.

Carpen, who had freelanced for Artisan Image, had used a university-owned laptop at home for her work with the business.

The News and Record reported that the panel recommended that Brady not take into account Carpen’s approval of English and Wilson’s inaccurate time sheets, as her behavior wasn’t “intentional.”

However, the panel did recommend that Brady focus on Carpen’s misuse of the UNCG laptop, as she was using university resources after hours for her own “personal gain.”

Additionally, the panel said that Carpen had created a conflict of interest by working for two employees she had the duty of supervising.

On Dec. 18, Brady issued a five-page decision saying that she would act on the panel’s recommendations and uphold Carpen’s termination.

In the decision, Brady said officials had found at least 30,000 photographs and at least 100 invoices totaling $258,000— evidence that corroborated English and Wilson had been using university cameras and computers for Artisan Image from 2010-2014.

Brady also said Carpen had admitted to knowing the photographers were using university resources.

Brady said in the decision to Carpen, “You attempted to justify this action by indicating that Mr. Wilson and Mr. English sometimes allowed the university to use their personal equipment for university work.”

Brady argued this was not justification for English and Wilson’s actions. She said the university could have been liable for the photographers’ equipment and that it was “inappropriate” that they put the university in such a position. 

Brady outlined that Carpen had failed to report English and Wilson’s operation of their business on state property and had also failed to disclose her secondary employment relationship with Artisan Image in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

Additionally, Brady said Carpen had failed to request and receive secondary employment approval for freelance work in 2011 and 2013.

Two previous supervisors vouched that they had granted Carpen permission to work for Artisan Image.

The panel took this into account when reviewing Carpen’s case; however, the combination of misusing campus resources and failing to formally report secondary employment was enough for Brady to justify upholding Carpen’s termination.

“I do not find your belief reasonable that your after-hours use of university-owned equipment was permissible because it did not occur during work hours,” Brady said in the decision.

She continued, saying, “Such a belief does not justify or excuse your use of university property for personal profit. In addition, the fact that you approved secondary employment forms for Mr. English and Mr. Wilson supports a finding that you knew and intentionally did not seek approval for secondary employment for yourself.”

It doesn’t appear the university and Lyda Carpen will ever see eye-to-eye.

Seth Cohen, Carpen’s attorney, has recently filed a Petition for a Contested Case Hearing with the Office of Administrative Hearings in Raleigh.

In the following months, a judge will hear the case and decide who is right: Carpen or UNCG.

Cohen said during a phone interview Friday that he doesn’t know when the hearing will be, as a date has yet to be assigned.

Cohen mentioned that, though it won’t be a major factor in his argument for the appeal, he had asked Brady to recuse herself from making the final decision on Carpen’s case.

Cohen argued that Brady had been publically vocal about her support of the university’s actions and such behavior suggested clear bias against Carpen.

The attorney said of the future hearing, “We’re going to have finally a neutral, qualified judge to hear the case and make the decision.”

“I think that she’s got an excellent chance,” Cohen said. “I’m confident that she’ll, at the end of the day, be reinstated.”

“She used a UNCG computer that she had permission to take home while she wasn’t on the clock,” Cohen asserted. “While she was off duty, she used a computer that had been checked out to do some freelancing work, and if you fire everybody in the public and private sector whose ever talked on a company cellphone or used a computer for another business or for personal gain, I think a lot of people would be fired.”

“I think that’s just way out of bounds,” Cohen said of Carpen’s termination.

Cohen said that if Carpen wins the case she would most likely be awarded reinstatement and backpay with benefits.