College of DuPage – Locker Room Stink

DuPage Co. (ECWd) –
A recent data dump from the College of DuPage (COD) has provided even more information that exposes the character, or lack thereof, of the people that were running things at COD.  It is clear these people were not bothered by lying to the board, deceiving the board, and violating federal law, even after being made aware they were doing so.

Lies & Deception = Stink!

As reported by the Chicago Tribune, a private locker room was built and refereed to in an e-mail as “Breuder’s Locker room”  (See Tribune Story)

June 23rd, 2014 – Glaser drafted a response to a question by trustee Mcguire regarding the locker room conversion and sends it to Breduer. “This room conversion is planned in response to an operational request to provide facilities for special guests or those with unique needs.  It is also anticipated that this facility might occasional be utilized by Trustees and various members of the Senior Management team.”

Operational request from who? 

According to the Tribune report, Breuder “expressed a desire for a more private changing room,”

So Breuder expressed a desire for a more private changing room, then in June, Glaser provides a response for Breuder in regards to a trustee question that is deceptive in nature by claiming the locker room was far from private. Not only was it not private, the response provided to the trustees used very interesting key words.

It was “anticipated” this facility “might” occasionally be utilized by Trustees and various members of the SMT.  That appears to be language that is very non committal and provides future wiggle room when it becomes a private locker room, which it did.

Another email just over 2 months later, from a person unknown, to Tom Glaser paints what appears to be the truth, thus exposing the lie and deception by Breuder and Glaser.

September 10th, 2014, Tom Glaser received an e-mail regarding this locker room in which the content of the e-mail states: “I thought the original plan was that locker room would be for you, Joe, and Dr. B.”

It appears that the sender of that communication is tasked with fixing the locker situation and clearly he is under the impression this locker room’s original plan was to be used by Breuder, Glaser, and Joe Collins, current Interim President, and not special guests, people with unique needs, trustees, and certain SMT members.

Ignoring Federal Law = Stink!

What is a person with unique needs?  What comes to my mind is people with a disability. Working from the assumption that this is what they meant when they used that term, let’s look at a bigger problem these people could be facing.  Keep in mind, regardless of their meaning of the unique needs, the information below applies!

American with Disability Act. – 35.151 New construction and alterations:

 (a) Design and construction. Each facility or part of a facility constructed by, on behalf of, or for the use of a public entity shall be designed and constructed in such manner that the facility or part of the facility is readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, if the construction was commenced after January 26, 1992.

(b) Alteration. Each facility or part of a facility altered by, on behalf of, or for the use of a public entity in a manner that affects or could affect the usability of the facility or part of the facility shall, to the maximum extent feasible, be altered in such manner that the altered portion of the facility is readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, if the alteration was commenced after January 26, 1992.

April 17, 2014, Legat Architects sends an email to COD in which very interesting comments are made.

• Since the room no longer meets ADA. we can maybe push this bench to the north a bit.
• As discussed, with the modifications to the room(s), they no longer meet the Illinois Accessibility Code. Since this is now a “Private Toilet Room”, this is allowed.

It would appear that compliance with ADA is completely disregarded to accommodate desired changes, which is inconsistent with the legislative intent of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

It is also clear that ADA is not referenced in one comment but instead the Illinois Accessibility Code, which is different than ADA.

Most telling in all of this, based on the e-mail timeline, they knew  in April that this was now a PRIVATE Toilet Room.

That being the case, there is clearly an intent to lie and deceive the board with the June email claiming it was a “facility for special guests or those with unique needs.  It is also anticipated that this facility might occasional be utilized by Trustees and various members of the Senior Management team”.  

The paper trail points to lies, deception, and disregard for Federal law.

However, trustee McGuire doesn’t see it that way. McGuire told the Tribune that she thought the college’s answer to her was “well-intentioned and truthful” but that the private locker room was not well-publicized.

Considering McGuire had access to all these documents, one must wonder how on earth a notification that this locker room was a “private toilet room” in April turned into at best a facility for three people in September.  All of which was not even remotely close to what the college’s answer to her was in June.  She is either delusional or has skin in the game that needs exposed!

Most would agree, lying and deceiving the board of trustees as well as ignoring Federal law is more than enough cause to terminate an employee, contract or no contract.