DAILY CLIPS COVER - East Carolina University

Published Mon, May 09, 2011 04:01 AM
Breach costly for researcher, UNC-CH
BY ERIC FERRERI - Staff Writer
CHAPEL HILL A prominent cancer researcher at UNC-Chapel Hill spent at
least $350,000 fighting for her job.
It wasn't enough.
Bonnie Yankaskas, an epidemiologist in the medical school, retires at the
end of 2011, as stipulated in a settlement that restores her rank and full
salary.
UNC-CH officials wanted to fire Yankaskas, whom they blamed for a
security breach that endangered personal information of 180,000 women
whose mammogram data had been part of a university research project.
The university subsequently scaled that punishment back to a demotion and
pay cut, which Yankaskas appealed, leading to mediation and the eventual
settlement.
It was a protracted and costly process.
Under the terms of the agreement, which was provided to the News &
Observer through an open records request, UNC-CH agreed to reimburse her
$175,000 - an amount the agreement notes is "less than one-half" of her
legal costs.
Her attorney, Raymond Cotton, declined to say exactly how much
Yankaskas spent defending herself.
Her rank as a full professor was restored under the agreement, as was her
full, $178,000 salary. In demoting Yankaskas, UNC-CH officials had
chopped that salary almost in half. The salary restoration may have affected
Yankaskas' retirement, since retirement payments for many state employees
are based on a salary average for the four highest-paid years of service.
Social Security numbers