After being "blasted" by Fox News Channel program "The O'Reilly Factor," the University of Wisconsin released an official status report Thursday concerning university employees convicted of felonies.
In the report, bullet-pointed details concerning the three convicted staff members' status with the university and actions taken against them are listed to counter critical statements made by program host Bill O'Reilly.
During the Thursday program, O'Reilly addressed the topic on air for the second time, referring to UW Chancellor John Wiley as a "pinhead," calling for his resignation.
“You should say, ‘Look, either clean this up, or resign,'” O'Reilly said.
In the beginning of the cable-news segment, the noted host expressed anger toward the ongoing situation.
"Roberto Coronado, currently in prison, convicted of sexually abusing three little girls between 5 and 10 years old, has finally been taken off the payroll today," O'Reilly pontificated during the program, pointing his finger at the camera. "This, after [we] exposed the fact the university was paying him $138,000 a year while he was in prison after his conviction."
The UW report, released prior to the taping of Thursday's Fox News broadcast, addresses this issue, stating Coronado — who pled no contest and was found guilty on three felony counts of repeated sexual contact with a child in a Dane County court in March — was recommended for termination by Provost Peter Spear in June.
Since that recommendation, Coronado appealed his firing and is subsequently receiving accumulated unspent vacation pay entitled to him under UW and Wisconsin state law.
Coronado will receive that vacation pay until it expires Sept. 12, and then remain on unpaid leave until his appeals process is completed and the results are reviewed by Chancellor Wiley, according to the UW release.
The UW report stated human oncology professor Steven Clark — serving a one-year jail term for felony stalking — was not granted work release privileges and is on leave without pay until an internal investigation is completed.
In addition, comparative literature professor Lewis Keith Cohen — sentenced to 30 days in jail and two years probation on a felony conviction of exposing a minor to child pornography — is not teaching courses at UW this semester.
Cohen will be released on probation Sept. 26 and Spear is expected to make a decision on his employment status once an internal investigation is complete next week.
UW history professor James Donnelly, who sits on the committee that reviews employees' disciplinary appeals, said public and media contempt surrounding the university's handling of the felonious employees results from impatience and disregard for obligatory procedure.
"Like any member of the general public who would be entitled to due process, a faculty member, even if they have been convicted of a crime … the university has to go through an internal process," he said. "They've got a due-process right for their case to be heard."
Donnelly added convicted felons receive UW vacation pay, even while serving jail time, but are "not on the payroll in the normal sense of the word."
"They have a legal entitlement to it," he said. "And if the university didn't pay it to them, they would be able to sue them because it's their money."
