Vice-President of Business Services Lyndsay Maas was paid in full for 59 of the 67 days she was placed on Administrative leave, according to her paystubs from the college for the months of November and December 2018, The Channels learned.
Maas received some $23,000 in gross pay over these two months. In addition, she was paid a sum of about $14,000 for January, according to City College. The college has not yet provided The Channels the exact payroll record for January, but did confirm that she was paid up until the day of her return, Jan. 25, 2019.
Superintendent-President Anthony Beebe sent out a college wide email Nov. 20, 2018 announcing Maas was placed on unpaid leave after her use of a racial slur the day prior, but did not notify the campus her leave became paid a week later. The only pay she lost was for eight days, around $5,000.
“It is standard procedure in organizations to place an employee on ‘paid administrative leave’ while reviewing or investigating a matter involving the employee,” Beebe told the Channels in response to the paystubs. “Given Vice President Maas is a permanent classified employee under Education Code section 88013(b), the college had no legal authority to place her on unpaid administrative leave without her consent.
“Vice President Maas consented to being placed on ‘unpaid administrative leave’ for 8 days, following the November 14 gender equity meeting,” he wrote. “Following this agreed 8 days of unpaid leave per 88013(b), Vice President Maas returned to paid administrative leave status, like any other permanent employee who is placed on administrative leave.”
Because Beebe did not stipulate Maas’ administrative leave was only unpaid for the first week, many members of the public as well as local media reported she had been unpaid for the entire 67 day period.
When Maas said the unabbreviated version of the n-word at the Nov. 19 Equity Work Group meeting in reference to harassment a student experienced, many campus members protested her employment and demanded her immediate resignation. Other campus members argued, though, that being put on unpaid leave was sufficient retribution.
At the Dec. 13 Board of Trustees meeting, item 8.1 on the agenda listed Maas’ unpaid leave as “11/19/18-TBD,” although by that time she was receiving pay again.
When The Channels reached out to Maas for a comment, she said her focus is “to get back to work leading the Business Services Division and continue to make progress on many important projects.”
“I am supportive of the efforts the College is undertaking to determine meaningful professional development, training and education in the areas of anti-racism, equity and inclusion,” Maas wrote. “Dr. Beebe expects all of President’s Cabinet to participate in these efforts – and I wholeheartedly support it.”
Maas returned to work Jan. 25, 2019 and will continue to serve as the Vice-President of Business Services. Maas’ annual salary is upwards of $168,000.
This story has been updated to include the paragraph stating that Maas’s leave was listed as unpaid from 11/19/18-TBD in the Board of Trustees Dec. 13 meeting agenda.
