Texas Tech University on Monday responded to allegations made by the consulting firm hired by Mike Leach in his ongoing dispute with the university.
Leach claims he is still owed $2.4 million in back-pay from December of 2009 when he was fired as head football coach.
Tech disagrees. The university said Leach was fired for cause – namely mistreating a player. Leach denies he mistreated the player.
On Friday, Dolcefino Consulting claimed that one of the key figures in Leach’s firing, former Chancellor Kent Hance, was overpaid.
Dolcefino made an open records request related to Hance stepping down from the chancellorship in late 2013.
Hance signed a transition agreement saying he would stay on until a new chancellor was found. Then, for three years Hance would be paid $240,000 per year to help with the transition to a new chancellor.
The agreement also said, “If Hance terminates this agreement prior to the end of the transitional term all obligations of the parties shall cease immediately.”
A new chancellor took over in July of 2014, but Hance did not continue for the full three years. Instead, he retired from the transition agreement “effective as of September 30, 2016.”
Tech still paid him as though he finished the full three years, according to the documents Dolcefino requested. Dolcefino claimed that Tech paid Hance a lump sum of $153,603.17 that it didn’t have to.
Dolcefino claims the lump sum was not approved by the Board of Regents. Tech said, “no further board approval was required.”
Hance was rehired as of November 1, 2016 as a part-time tenured professor in the school of law for $44,000 according to public records.
The full statement from the university is copied below:
After Kent Hance indicated his intention to step down as Chancellor, the Board authorized the Board Chairman to negotiate a “Transition Agreement” with Mr. Hance. The Transition Agreement, effective as of January 1, 2014, was later executed by the Chairman of the Board of Regents. The Transition Agreement provided for a three-year term which commenced in 2014 when Robert Duncan became Chancellor. Chancellor Duncan and Mr. Hance agreed in mid-2016 that the transition had been completed successfully. The payment which Mr. Dolcefino criticizes was a valid lump sum payment of the remaining compensation under the Transition Agreement. Under the rules governing the Board, no further Board approval was required for the payment.
Mr. Hance continues teaching a popular leadership course and is compensated for it by Texas Tech University.
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