By Lev D. Zilbermints
In Part I, published February 15, “Local Talk” described the nature of ex-President Joseph Nyre and his wife’s, Kelli L. Nyre, lawsuit. Citing court papers, “Local Talk” showed how Seton Hall University (SHU) treated its president and his wife. In this, the second part of a series, “Local Talk” continues to expose unusual dealings at SHU.
According to court papers, “During Plaintiff J. Nyre’s tenure, chief financial officer, Donna McMonagle (Ms. McMonagle), uncovered financial irregularities at Defendant SHU’s Law School that required an independent investigation.
In connection with these allegations, Defendant SHY commenced an independent investigation to the alleged embezzlement, which was governed by the Audit Committee of the Board of Regents.
Mr. Marino, then-general counsel Kimberly Capadona (“Ms. Capadona”), Mr. Lyons and Plaintiff J. Nyre interviewed and recommended attorney Anthony Dougherty, Esq. (“Mr. Dougherty”), of the law firm Archer & Greiner P.C., a firm which regularly conducted legal work for Defendant SHU, to oversee the investigation. Notably, Mr. Dougherty had successfully completed a similar investigation and closed out the resulting legal matters at another university prior to Plaintiff J. Nyre’s arrival at said university.”
Court papers state, “Throughout the course of the investigation, Plaintiff J. Nyre learned that, as early as 2019, Mr. Marino, was regularly communicating with the Dean of the Law school, Kathleen Boozang (“Dean Boozang”) regarding topics which Defendant SHU’s bylaws and policies expressly prohibit between Regents and deans of the various schools”.
The question is, why did the other members of the Board of Regents not do anything about this? Presumably, being a Regent means knowledge of the school’s policies, regulations, do’s and don’ts. Were the other Regents in agreement with Mr. Marino?
Why was Mr. Marino not sued by ex-President J. Nyre?
According to a February 7, 2024 article in the New York Times, R. Armen McOmber, one of the lawyers for the Nyres, said that they did not sue Mr. Marino because their issue is with the university and how they acted, not with the core of the problem.”
Mr. McOmber told the New York Times, “If the University had acted appropriately, there would not have been a problem. The university has a responsibility to protect employees, investigate and remediate wrongdoing and make sure its policies are followed.”
Mr. McOmber told the New York Times that Joseph Nyre and Kelli L. Nyre were trying to restore their “sterling reputation.”
“At its core, this is about a very principled man and woman who really tried their absolute best to stand up to a university and to a system. My client[s] will do what he has to do to restore what was before he was involved with this university, a sterling reputation”, Mr. McOmber told the New York Times.
If Mr. Marino’s actions specifically targeted the Nyres, then under the law, Mr. Marino should have been sued. The Board of Regents did not make ominous phone calls at all hours of the day to Mr. Nyre. According to court documents, Mr. Marino did. Similarly, it was Mr. Marino who allegedly sexually harassed Kelli L. Nyre on at least two occasions, court papers state.
Mr. Marino’s Conflict of Interest Actions.
According to court papers, the investigation revealed that Mr. Marino had communications with Dean Boozang regarding a range of issues, including the following: (1) raising Dean Boozang’s compensation; (2) allocation of university resources for the funding for new Law School faculty lines; (3) the admission of underqualified students to the Law School who were the children of Mr. Marino’s friends; and (4) confidential information related to faculty compensation which was discussed in Board meetings to which Dean Boozang was neither attending nor a member.”
From the court papers quoted above, this is clearly a conflict of interest for Mr. Marino. The Regents are not supposed to be involved in the day-to-day affairs of Seton Hall University. Court papers say as much.
In his statement to the Setonian, published in the February 16 online issue, Marino denied having a conflict of interest. He called Dean Boozang a “scapegoat” that was used by President Nyre.
“Dr. Nyre’s lawsuit, in which I am not a defendant, is rife with false and defamatory statements. I recruited Dr. Nyre to serve as Seton Hall’s President in 2018 and he recruited me to serve as Chairman of the Board of Regents. He and I then worked effectively together for several years before I objected to his gross mishandling of the investigation of an embezzlement scandal at Seton Hall Law School.
“He hired a friend of his to conduct that investigation – a lawyer fired by the Iona University Board of Trustees – and together they made former Law School Dean Boozang a scapegoat of that scandal although she had nothing whatsoever to do with it. When I lodged my objection, Dr. Nyre vowed to have me removed as Chair and proceeded to make a host of false allegations about me to a group of six Regents, centered around the entirely bogus claim that I had a conflict of interest based on my professional relationship with the Dean.”
According to court papers, “Defendant SHU’s own bylaws and policies, as well as the Standards for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, expressly prohibit direct contact between Regents and the Deans regarding day-to-day decision-making, admissions decisions and financial and considerations. Moreover, Defendant SHU’s bylaws provide that disclosure of confidential information from Board meetings may implicate Defendant SHU’s policy related to conflicts of interest, which requires all Regents to “treat information received from the University as strictly confidential.”
According to Article 8 of the University Bylaws, the Regents cannot be involved in the day-to-day business of Seton Hall University.
One must wonder why the University expects students to follow its rules, policies, bylaws, yet does not do anything when Regents violate these same procedures. Double standard?
So, while all this was going on, Dean Boozang announced her resignation from the Law School. Mr. Marino was “intent” on awarding Dean Boozang a seven-figure settlement before the investigation into the Law School was complete.
Even after Dean Boozang resigned from the Law School, Mr. Marino “continued to speak privately with Dean Boozang’s individual counsel regarding the terms of her ultimate departure from the Law School,” court papers state.
This looks to be a violation of Article 8 of the University’s Bylaws which state that Regents are not supposed to be involved in the University’s day-to-day affairs. As an honest man and a loyal university employee, then-President Joseph Nyre repeatedly tried to get then – Board of Regents Chair Kevin Marino to follow the rules, policies, bylaws and regulations of Seton Hall University, state and federal laws.
The unanswered question is, why should Dean Boozang be given the same salary, a million dollars, that is paid to the University President?
President Nyre tries to warn Mr. Marino of violations.
According to court papers, “Recognizing that the contact would violate the applicable rules and bylaws, Plaintiff J. Nyre declined and urged Mr. Marino to direct all communications regarding the investigation to Defendant SHU’s general counsel so as to avoid compromising the integrity of the investigation.
Mr. Marino not only tampered with the investigation and attempted to influence Dean Boozang’s compensation while the investigation was pending, but also improperly spoke directly with employees of the Law School related to their compensation and promised to give them raises.”
This raises important questions. First, should giving raises be done by the President, Chief Financial Officer, and finally the Board of Regents? Second, Mr. Marino is again violating Article 8 of the University Bylaws by being involved in the day-to-day affairs of the University.
Apparently, Mr. Marino had friends at the university that he wanted to be compensated. The big question is, why would Mr. Marino give raises in the middle of an investigation into embezzlement at the Law School?
According to court papers, “From in or around September 2022 until in or around November 2022, Mr. Marino pressed Plaintiff J. Nyre – at times aggressively – regarding the terms of Dean Boozang’s potential separation package while continuing to simultaneously report to the Audit Committee and the Board of Regents that no such determination should be made until after the close of the investigation.”
A number of unanswered questions arise. Why did the Board of Regents not double-check what Mr. Marino was telling them? Meanwhile, the Regents are being kept in the dark about the actual circumstances of the situation. All this also sounds like Mr. Marino was telling the Regents one thing while doing something else totally. Question is, whatever happened to oversight?
The honest answer, based on court papers and available evidence, is that there is little, if any, oversight. Even though both J. Nyre and Kelli L. Nyre complained to the Board of Regents about what was happening, but there was no response.
