Former UMDNJ dean gets $60,000 settlement in discrimination claim

Warren Wallace, a former dean with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey who was fired during a federal investigation, has received a $60,000 legal settlement after claiming UMDNJ discriminated against him.

Wallace, who is African American, contended in his 2008 lawsuit that UMDNJ had dismissed him in 2006 because he had characterized the university's hiring practices as racially biased. He was a senior associate dean for academic and student affairs at the time, earning $166,000.

Neither Wallace nor his lawyer, Kevin Costello, returned calls for comment Monday. The settlement, which contained no admission of liability, was reached this month, according to the state Attorney General's Office, which had represented UMDNJ.

At the time of the firing, UMDNJ officials said that Wallace had attempted to get his daughter into UMDNJ's School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford even though she had not taken the required test or written the required essay. His "interference with the admissions process was unethical and unacceptable," they said. At the time, Wallace was in charge of admissions.

A federal probe of the university led to the corruption conviction of former State Sen. Wayne Bryant (D., Camden), an associate of Wallace's who steered state money to the university.

During the investigation, the FBI received an anonymous tip that Wallace's secretary was shredding documents relating to Bryant. When agents arrived at Wallace's office, they confiscated the shredder and began looking into Wallace.

Wallace was not charged with any crime, but a federal monitor later wrote a scathing report that said he had helped a friend get a lucrative no-bid catering contract; manipulated travel expense reports and petty cash; and spent much of his time at UMDNJ conducting political business since he was both a Gloucester County freeholder and, at the time, the chairman of the Delaware River and Bay Authority.

The report concluded that his actions were "unethical at a minimum."

On Monday, UMDNJ spokesman Jeff Tolvin would not provide any details of the settlement. "The matter is settled, but beyond that we have no comment," he said.

After he was dismissed, Wallace, who is still a freeholder, said that he began working as a family therapist. The Washington Township man denied the allegations in the monitor's report and said he had done nothing wrong.

Wallace was among at least seven top UMDNJ officials who were fired or forced to resign after the investigation revealed widespread financial irregularities and misconduct.

Last year, Bryant was sentenced to four years in prison on corruption charges, while former UMDNJ dean R. Michael Gallagher was given 18 months for rigging the process that led to Bryant's hiring.