SAN MARCOS - An investigation of sexual harassment allegations against a Palomar College Spanish professor who was later exonerated was handled improperly, faculty leaders and an attorney for the professor alleged this week.

According to his attorney, Martha Torgow, a number of district policies and procedures, as well as state law, were violated during the investigation of John Erickson, a professor at the college for 28 years.

David Larsen, an attorney for the community college, on Tuesday denied assertions that the investigation was mishandled, but would not go into more detail.

"I'm going to decline to comment on personnel issues at this time," said Larsen.

Palomar President Bob Deegan and John Tortarolo, vice president of human resources, also declined to comment on the specifics of the Erickson investigation.

"We do endeavor to treat all our employees fairly," Tortarolo said. "We take our responsibility to protect our students, staff and faculty very seriously."

Erickson, who was accused of not protecting a student assistant from an alleged sexual assault during a college-sponsored Spanish immersion program in Cuernavaca, Mexico, in summer 2006, was placed on paid leave in December, but was exonerated May 10, Torgow said. He returned to the classroom when school resumed Monday.

Details on the specific incident were not immediately available.

"It has been a terrible ordeal," Erickson said in a statement to the North County Times. "I would not wish it on my worst enemy. I am just glad to be back in the classroom, teaching my students."

Torgow said the goal now is to restore her client's reputation and state of mind, which she said were tarnished during the course of what she called a "bizarre" and "out-of-control" investigation.

"What got destroyed was his reputation because of the way the district handled it," said Torgow. "The district didn't follow their own procedures. People are afraid to associate with him because they don't know if they'll be in some way targeted by the administration."

During last week's governing board meeting, in which a number of colleagues testified as to Erickson's character, faculty union President Shannon Lienhart called the investigation a "witch hunt" and charged that "tactics were used that ran contrary to all accepted norms of investigative practices."

"The misuse of power, the invasion of privacy and the limitless police-type behavior should scare every single person on this campus," Lienhart told trustees.

Torgow said the biggest issue with the investigation was the alleged violation of Erickson's constitutional right to privacy.

"The investigation covered everything from A to Z, plus another alphabet," said Torgow, adding that Erickson's colleagues and friends were questioned on everything from his marriage and divorce to facts about financial assets and his father's illness. "These are things that had nothing to do with the allegations or anything workplace-related. It was totally irrelevant."

Lienhart, who was one of at least 43 people questioned during the investigation, said investigator Thomas R. Stewart reported to her information about Erickson that had no bearing on his performance at work and asked her leading, hypothetical questions.

"The investigator's synopsis of my conversation with him was completely taken out of context and twisted to fit his own agenda," she said. "So the investigator himself was participating in this mass hysteria of defamation against this poor man."

Stewart said he could make no comment Wednesday.

Erickson received a letter from the district May 10 that said the allegations were unsubstantiated, said Torgow, but declined to comment on the letter's contents.

The investigation also violated the college's policy on sexual harassment, in addition to the faculty union's labor contract, said Torgow.

The district's procedure for dealing with sexual harassment requires that a faculty member be given a copy of the written complaint upfront and allowed 10 days to provide the district with a written response, she said. In addition, the district should only investigate complaints that are not resolved at an informal level.

Up until he was put on administrative leave in December, Erickson didn't know what had happened, Torgow said. He was not given a copy of the complaint or chance to respond until March, she said.

"We don't know if he was even formally accused or not," she said.

Lienhart alleged that the faculty union's labor contract was also breached, as the district is not supposed to deal with anonymous, derogatory complaints against faculty members, according to an article in the contract that deals with personnel files.

"The district can't keep secret files on faculty," she said.

Another big concern raised by Torgow is the district's alleged violation of the state's Ralph M. Brown Act, which protects the public's rights to participate in government by requiring the groups to meet publicly, post agendas in advance, keep minutes, and allow for public comments.

Under the law, board members may only meet in closed session to discuss litigation, real estate transactions or personnel issues, and must immediately announce any action taken.

If the board does meet in closed session to hear specific complaints against a faculty member, the employee must be given 24-hours written notice, Torgow said. This allows the employee a right to a public airing, so that if there is a false charge, the employee has a chance to hear and refute it.

"It appears the board members are very much aware of the original allegations against John Erickson," she said. "At no time was John given his Brown Act notice that the board was going to hear these charges. He was horrified the board was told these things that were false."

During last week's board meeting, board President Mark Evilsizer acknowledged that perhaps some aspects of the investigation weren't handled properly.

"We do have policies and procedures in place - we just need to be sure we're following the directives on these things," Evilsizer said Tuesday. "The administration needs to work with the Palomar Faculty Federation (the union) to review the steps that were taken in the whole sequence of events and find out if the investigator stepped out of place somewhere."

Torgow said some legal action will be taken against Palomar, but would not go into more detail.

Lienhart said that the union is in the process of filing a grievance against the college for not following its own policies and procedures.

"We will not stand for this kind of witch hunt against another faculty member ever," she said.

- Contact staff writer Noelle Ibrahim at (760) 761-4404 or nibrahim@nctimes.com.