NMSU settles lawsuit with former provost Carol Parker
Another former top official at New Mexico State University reached a settlement after undergoing a two-year court proceeding in the Third Judicial District Court in Las Cruces.
Carol Parker, former provost and chief academic officer for NMSU from 2019 to 2022, signed off on a $445,000 settlement on Feb. 14, 2024, agreeing to not move forward in her lawsuit that alleged former university officials Dan Arvizu and John Flores had retaliated against her, according to the settlement document published on the New Mexico Sunshine Portal.
In Parker’s original complaint, she stated that Arvizu, chancellor of the university, and then-president of the university Floros had allegedly used her as a “scapegoat” for unpopular administrative decisions regarding the investigation of faculty pay disparities, especially involving gender and race, and the restructuring of departments such as the merger of the former Colleges of Education and Health and Social Services, a move faculty opposed.
“Despite the serious nature of the allegations against Plaintiff [Carol Parker], and despite ongoing media coverage of the accusations, Chancellor Arvizu, a male superior, instructed Plaintiff to not respond in any way to the [faculty no confidence] resolution's allegations against her and demanded she stay silent,” the complaint states.
“Plaintiff believed that she was being blamed by faculty for actions that were not her decision, but rather decisions of her male supervisors that she was charged with implementing,” the complaint further stated.
Parker allegedly when she brought those concerns to Arvizu, during the same time as the no confidence resolution, she was publicly placed on administrative leave, a process usually handled as a private personnel issue. Floros, who also received a vote of no confidence from the faculty, had not been put on leave or given the same treatment as Parker, according to the complaint.
Before Parker could take her concerns to the university’s Office of Institutional Equity, she was terminated. She filed her complaint with the New Mexico Human Rights Bureau and Third Judicial District Court as a result.
The Sun-News reached out to Kate Ferlic, Parker’s attorney, to learn settlement details. Ferlic did not provide that information but rather reiterated her comments in previous reporting by the Albuquerque Journal.
“[Parker] looks forward to consulting with other universities on issues related to equal pay, implementing quality education for students and elevating women in higher education administration,” Ferlic told the Journal. “Carol was an outstanding administrator who cared deeply about education in New Mexico.”
Parker will be paid $445,000, administered in two payments where 10% ($49,500) would be issued as a payroll check. The remaining 90% ($445,500) would be issued through her attorneys, holding responsibility for taxes. However, Ferlic told the Sun-News the total amount would be $495,000, despite the New Mexico Sunshine Portal not reflecting that number.
How did the university respond to the settlement? As written in the settlement document, it denied the allegations stating, “NMSU and its former and current employees, denied, and continue to deny any and all allegations that they have acted improperly or illegally in any manner with respect to Releasor [Carol Parker] or her employment.”
Parker isn’t the only former top official to have recently settled a lawsuit with the university. Former NMSU Title IX Coordinator Laura Castille, who also alleged retaliation in the workplace after a whistleblower complaint, settled her lawsuit for $60,000 last month.
Ernesto Cisneros is a reporting fellow with the UNM/NM Local News Fund program. He covers education for the Sun-News and can be reached at ECisneros@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter at @_ernestcisneros.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: NMSU ends 2-year lawsuit with Carol Parker with settlement
