Roth’s public response to the Kannam legal situation

Re: the Thomas Kannam lawsuit. In a campus-wide email and on his blog, President Roth briefly lays out the case against Kannam and says he’s got this.

Key details in boldface:

Many of you are aware that Wesleyan has commenced litigation against former Vice President and Chief Investment Officer Thomas Kannam. For those of you hearing about this for the first time, here are the basic facts: On September 30, 2009, Wesleyan received a report through its Whistleblower Policy concerning Mr. Kannam’s potential violation of Wesleyan’s Conflict of Interest Policy. This report was fully and promptly investigated. We believe that Mr. Kannam was a principal in one or more other substantial business ventures and that his work was potentially in conflict with his responsibilities at the University. As a result of this activity, Wesleyan believes that Mr. Kannam had, at a minimum, violated the Conflict of Interest Policy and his employment agreement with the University. Mr. Kannam was terminated on October 13, and on November 24 Wesleyan brought suit in Connecticut Superior Court against him and related parties.

An unpleasant matter like this one, touching a community like ours, stimulates questions and speculation as a matter of course. In this case our strong desire for transparency must be weighed against both legal interests and institutional policy regarding personnel issues. Given the pending litigation, it would be inappropriate for me to comment at length. What I can say is that the situation, while disappointing, is no cause for alarm. However, the University has an obligation to all those who have supported it over the years to hold members of the campus community to the high standards expected of them, and this litigation reflects just how seriously the University takes its fiduciary responsibilities and adherence to its policies. Once the nature and scope of Mr. Kannam’s activities were revealed, we acted quickly and judiciously.

Wesleyan’s endowment is being overseen by the Treasurer’s Office in close consultation with the Portfolio Subcommittee of the Board of Trustees. A search process is underway that will result in new leadership for endowment management, and I will be able to report on this in the spring. In the meantime, I am gratified by the continuing support the University has been receiving from its alumni and others.

Michael S. Roth
President

An assertive statement, yet tactful, considering the situation. I don’t suppose we’ll be hearing a rebuttal from the other side anytime soon.

In the meantime, things are heating up.

According to BusinessWeek, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who is perhaps not incidentally seeking the Senate seat vacated by Sen. Chris Dodd, plans to review the lawsuit in order to investigate further and see whether any laws were broken.

As Kannam’s wife (and probable collaborator) Heather L. McCutchen reportedly said in regards to an earlier threat to her husband’s illicit profit-making: “oucheroo.”

See our previous post and the Argus article for more details. The coverage of the case thus far:

Inside Higher Ed: Tangled Web at Wesleyan
Hartford Courant: Wesleyan Sues Its Former Chief Investment Officer, Citing Fraud
Middletown Press: Wesleyan suing former chief investment officer
NY Times: Wesleyan Sues Former CIO for Fraud