AUGUSTA, Maine — A settlement approved for the University of Maine at Augusta president who bowed out amid controversy ensures he will be paid at least $235,000 in the first year.
Michael Laliberte will receive an additional $30,000 for a housing allowance on top of his $205,000 salary, which will be paid in a lump sum on July 1, the Kennebec Journal reported.
If he fails to obtain another job, then he’ll receive his full salary for another two years, or he’ll receive the balance if he receives a lower-paying job.
University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy was taken to task for failing to disclose to a search committee that Laliberte was the subject of no-confidence votes in his previous job, at State University of New York at Delhi.
Malloy has found himself on the receiving end of several no-confidence votes since the controversy began.
Malloy, a former Democratic governor of Connecticut, has apologized for the handling of the job search, and Laliberte announced he was declining to take the job as scheduled on Aug. 1.
The settlement isn’t sitting well with some, especially after nine faculty members were cut from the University of Maine at Farmington.
Victoria Cohen, whose husband, philosophy professor Jonathan Cohen was laid off from UMF in early May, marveled at the size of the settlement for someone who never reported to work.
The three-year settlement would cover “a whole heap of salaries” of faculty and staff, Cohen said.
