MANHATTAN, Kan. - December 19, 2024 - Dr. Rebecca Bahlmann, a tenured full professor at Kansas State University (K-State), whose employment was terminated in November of this year, today announced that the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) in Washington, D.C. is in the process of advocating for her because of wrongful termination. Dr. Bahlmann, formerly known as Hackemann-Bahlmann, taught at K-State’s Department of Art for eleven years before being dismissed from her position, with the university alleging medical fraud and the fraudulent creation of medical notes.
Anita Levy, Ph.D., Senior Program Officer of the AAUP officially states that Kansas State University has violated “sec standards of academic due process”. AAUP has contacted Dr. Richard Linton, President of Kansas State University and alerted him that Dean Christopher Culbertson, terminated Dr. Bahlmann’s employment on November 15, 2024, leaving her with no health insurance and no salary.
Bahlmann is represented by noted higher education attorney David Frakt. According to Mr. Frakt, “I represent professors all over the country, and this is perhaps the most egregious violation of academic due process that I have ever come across. They are basically shooting first and asking questions later. I expected better from such a respected institution. I am confident that Professor Bahlmann will ultimately be reinstated with back pay, but she really should never have been dismissed in the first place.”
Bahlmann states that “Dean Culbertson and Mr Joglekar, Art Department head have a documented track record of micro aggressions and were also found guilty of violating due process in her promotion to full Professor in 2023. This act is an extension of past behavior and retaliation for the recently filed ADA lawsuit against Kansas State University.”
According to the dean’s letter, the grounds for dismissal was based on incorrect and unsubstantiated information, that the professor had “submitted materially altered and fabricated medical documentation for the purpose of obtaining certain leave and accommodations for surgeries.” Bahlmann contests these allegations. She had been asking for a 9% workload release per semester to undergo several hand surgeries in different semesters. She underwent two right hand surgeries in October and did not receive a 9% work release, but did for her left hand in 2023.
“I was and am devoted to K State,” said Bahlmann. “The AAUP has been given all information about my having been banned from campus. Dean Culbertson told me to move out of my office/studio, cut my classes off mid semester, cut my salary, benefits and email privileges have been revoked.” Bahlmann was given 48 hours to prove her innocence and 48 hours to vacate, during the middle of the semester, while she was teaching a course on civil rights.
The Professor added, “The AAUP informed K-State that their procedure in my dismissal is effectively, ‘against basic standards of academic due process as set forth in the enclosed 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure and the complementary 1958 Statement on Procedural Standards in Faculty Dismissal. Proceedings’” and against several section of the handbook at K-state that require an internal hearing before a faculty committee before termination of a tenured faculty member.
Balmann wants a mutually satisfactory resolution to this matter. “I am asking for reinstatement with salary and benefits, ADA accommodation for teaching two lecture courses, three art courses, and moving expenses,” she said.
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