Seton Hall board member who raised concerns about misconduct resigns after threats

The resignation of Kevin Flood from the Board of Regents comes amid a whistleblower lawsuit against Seton Hall by its former president, Joseph Nyre.

This article appeared in Politico yesterday. I expect this to be the tip of a giant iceberg.

By Dustin Racioppi | 09/30/2024 01:00 PM EDT

A high-ranking official at Seton Hall University resigned Friday, citing threats after he raised concerns about the school’s handling of misconduct complaints against members of its governing board.

The resignation of Kevin Flood from the Board of Regents comes amid a whistleblower lawsuit against the university by its former president, Joseph Nyre.

Nyre’s core complaints focus on the alleged behavior of former board Chair Kevin Marino, a well-known attorney who has represented Donald Trump’s former campaign manager and the New Jersey lobbyist and lawyer Philip Norcross in an alleged racketeering scheme with his brother George Norcross, the South Jersey political boss (both Norcrosses have pleaded not guilty).

Nyre accuses Marino of sexually harassing his wife and interfering with a school investigation into embezzlement at its law school, among other things. Marino, who is not named in Nyre’s suit, has denied the allegations and a university-commissioned report by an outside law firm found “no evidence” to support the harassment claim or that the university “intentionally ignored or diminished” such allegations.

In his resignation letter obtained by POLITICO, Flood does not specifically refer to those allegations but attached a December 2023 letter he sent to Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the archbishop of the Newark diocese, that includes dates and details matching Nyre’s allegations.

“Having the courage to engage in the difficult conversations, respectfully disagreeing with fellow Regents, and sharing when one believes the Board is headed down the wrong path — or — perhaps mishandling a matter are all critical to healthy governance and great universities,” Flood said in his resignation letter.

Since sending that letter to Tobin, Flood said, “I received much individual ire from fellow Regents and was out of a Board meeting. Moreover, I’ve been threatened with litigation, applied for indemnification and incurred my own legal expenses — all for simply mustering the courage to seek answers and fulfill mandated reporting requirements.”

The university declined to comment and Tobin did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Flood’s letter to him. In it, Flood told Tobin he’d been aware of “several events which are concerning and if not addressed properly, will cause severe financial and reputational harm to Seton Hall.” They included allegations of bullying and harassment against members of the Board of Regents.

Flood said “what’s more disturbing” is how the allegations were handled by the university.

Flood was a vice chair of the board’s audit committee, which is responsible for addressing complaints. Flood said he was told — and Nyre asserts in his lawsuit — that an attorney for the school directed the removal of three harassment claims against an unnamed board member from an annual report to the committee in May 2023.

Such record manipulation would not only give the appearance that the board is “complicit” or “purposefully suppressing” alleged misconduct, but it also concerned Flood that the school may have violated state and federal laws.

“I have been troubled by these matters,” he wrote to the cardinal, then asked for an independent review of the school’s handling of complaints “to safeguard and restore our institutional integrity.”

Nyre came to Seton Hall in 2019 as the South Orange university tried to recover from a yearslong sexual abuse scandal by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was the archbishop of Newark and president of the university's Board of Trustees. Within three years, the school uncovered a long-running embezzlement scheme at its law school, leading to the dean's resignation, although she was not accused of wrongdoing.

Nyre resigned in July 2023 and filed suit in February.

An Essex County Superior Court judge is expected to rule soon on a motion by the school to dismiss Nyre's lawsuit. A lawyer for Nyre, Armen McOmber, said in court last week that "the university and Mr. Marino are working hand in glove to retaliate" against Nyre. Christopher Porrino, Marino's attorney, told the judge the allegations against Marino and hundreds of references to him in the lawsuit show "they are attempting to damage Mr. Marino's reputation."