U. of Maryland University College Is Said to Have Bought Silence of Former Employees

The president of the University of Maryland University College, who was placed on indefinite leave last month for undisclosed reasons, orchestrated “hush payments” to many administrators and professors at the institution who had been terminated, according to a complaint filed with a Maryland auditor and obtained by The Washington Post.

A former employee, who has not been named, filed a 91-page complaint with Maryland’s Office of Legislative Audit on February 10, two weeks before the sudden departure of Susan C. Aldridge, the Post reports. The complaint alleges that Ms. Aldridge and her administration bought the silence of 23 university employees who had been forced out. The Aldridge administration, the complaint says, concealed those payments by continuing to pay the salaries of the terminated employees until the buyouts were fully paid. The employees were fired for lapses in loyalty and challenging what they perceived as the administration’s attempts to water down UMUC’s academic rigor, according to the Post’s description of the complaint.

University officials and others at the decentralized institution have not publicly disclosed any details about Ms. Aldridge’s departure and have repeatedly declined requests for comment on the matter.