MSU left Pitt in the dark on professor’s past misconduct

After a report from his former employer found he “engaged in non-consensual sexual contact,” students and faculty at the University of Pittsburgh are grappling with Charles Hadlock’s misconduct and Pitt’s lack of communication about next steps. 

When Hadlock left his professorship at Michigan State University last summer, he was only allowed to interact with students remotely. This spring, he taught undergraduate students in-person in Pitt’s Katz Graduate School of Business. 

Pitt spokesperson Nick France said the University offered Hadlock a job as the Terrence Laughlin Chair in Finance before the MSU investigation started, and was unaware of the allegations against him. When the investigation finished — concluding that Hadlock non-consensually touched and sexually harassed individuals at a university event — MSU did not let Pitt know what it found. A later outside probe confirmed that the individuals were students. 

After the incident became public in January, Pitt’s Office of Compliance, Investigations and Ethics reviewed “the circumstances surrounding Dr. Hadlock’s recruitment and ultimate hire by the University,” France said. Its findings are currently under review by the University and Katz school leadership, including Dean Gene Anderson. 

France declined to answer a question about Pitt’s potential next steps now that the OCIE audit is finished, or a timeline for when those next steps may take place. 

Hadlock did not respond to multiple emailed requests for comment on the contents of this story. He could not be reached by phone. 

The conduct in question occurred at MSU’s business school’s end-of-year gala in April 2022. Hadlock “appeared intoxicated” at the event and “engaged in non-consensual sexual contact” with two individuals and sexually harassed one of them, according to a finalized investigation conducted by the MSU’s Office of Institutional Equity which concluded in December 2022. 

The investigation found that his conduct met every condition of a violation of MSU’s Title IX and relationship violence and sexual misconduct policies. To constitute a violation of the policies, behavior must be “objectively offensive,” “pervasive,” “persistent,” “unwelcome,” “impact(ful),” “on the basis of sex” and “severe.” 

Before the incident at MSU, Hadlock visited Pitt’s campus to present his research to a group of business faculty as one of the candidates in the running for the Terrence Laughlin chair position. 

The research he presented — titled “Protecting Your Friends: The Role of Connections in Division Manager Careers” — upset at least one faculty member, according to Pitt business administration professor Vicky Hoffman and two other sources familiar with the situation. 

Hoffman said the concern arose from a section of Hadlock’s paper titled “Friends with shareholder benefits” in which he mathematically evaluates the financial benefits of friendships between managers and CEOs. The phrase “friends with benefits” typically refers to a relationship that is sexual but not committed. The faculty member reported their concern, but Katz administration dismissed it, according to two faculty sources. Former Katz Dean Arjang Assad did not respond to a request for comment on the dismissal. 

Weeks before he left MSU, Hadlock received an email from former business school dean Sanjay Gupta asking that “any contact (he) may have with students be done remotely and related only to their academics or their career related matters.” 

A student in Hadlock’s BUSFIN1355 “Valuation” course this spring, who wished to remain anonymous, said the allegations against Hadlock were “disappointing” to hear, especially because she believes he “tries really hard to be inclusive” toward his female students — for example, by not just using masculine pronouns and language to refer to hypothetical business situations in class. 

“If it’s any consolation, maybe it means he learned and improved some way, but it’s awful,” she said. “It’s really awful to hear.” 

The student said she had not heard about her professor’s reported misconduct until she was approached for comment. She said she believes students should have been informed about the incident and what actions Pitt is taking. 

Another undergraduate student of Hadlock’s, who also wished to remain anonymous, said while he thinks it is “definitely warranted” for students to have concerns about Hadlock, he believes his professor is a “good guy” and “(doesn’t) have any reservations about him.”

“I think it would be kind of a shame if there was any, like, serious action taken against him,” he said. “I like his class and I kind of feel bad for him. I mean, obviously I don’t support anything like that, but, you know, it just sounds like he was having a good time at a gala and just got a little carried away.”

Carrie Leana, a professor of organizations and management at Pitt’s business school, said she found Hadlock’s reported behavior “deplorable.”

“That behavior doesn’t comport with my values or the values of my colleagues,” Leana said. 

Recommendations for change

Back at MSU, disagreements about who should’ve reported Hadlock’s conduct prompted the university’s Board of Trustees to order an outside investigation. 

The subsequent report — produced by global law firm Quinn Emanuel at a cost of $1.6 million to MSU — contains recommendations for improving the systems that allowed Hadlock’s conduct to go unnoticed and unpunished.

MSU does not keep track of where faculty work after they leave the university, or have a mechanism to notify other institutions of newly finalized disciplinary investigations, Deputy University Spokesperson Dan Olsen said. The Quinn Emanuel report finds that lack of communication “jeopardizes the safety of those outside MSU.”

France, the Pitt spokesperson, declined to comment on whether Hadlock’s presence at Pitt jeopardizes the safety of its students. 

As to whether MSU would adopt the recommendation and implement a notification system, Olsen said discussions are ongoing within the administration. MSU Board Chair Rema Vassar declined to comment on the recommendation on account of her policy against speaking to The State News.

Elizabeth Abdnour, a former MSU Title IX investigator who now runs a Lansing law firm specializing in discrimination cases, said she fears the lack of information sharing puts students at other institutions in danger.

“The phrase I always have in my head is ‘passing the trash,’” Abdnour said. “I think schools see it as ‘Well, I don’t have to deal with that person anymore, they’re gone.’ … If you’re somebody who’s going to pretend that you care about students, you can’t just care about students at MSU, you need to care about students at whatever institution they might be at.”

A 2019 investigation by The Chronicle of Higher Education found that it’s common for professors to avoid repercussions by moving to a new institution before investigations into their conduct are complete — for some, it’s a calculated tactic.

“We advise people when there’s an allegation to get out and start looking for a new school before there is a finding,” Joshua Engel, a lawyer who represents faculty members and students accused of harassment, told The Chronicle.

Editor’s Note: This story was produced and co-published with The State News, Michigan State University’s student newspaper. State News administration reporter Alex Walters and assistant news editor Alexandra Ross co-reported this article.

A previous version of this story noted that an MSU investigation was underway when Hadlock left the university; the investigation did not begin until July. It also did not note that while the OCIE findings are complete the University’s review of the findings are still underway. This story has been updated to reflect the correct quote. The Pitt News regrets these errors.