Teacher: Ferris gave $500 bonuses for minority recruitment

The school denies that any such payments were made. But two employees have given sworn statements about the bonuses. The allegations were made in a lawsuit filed by William Topping, who claims the school discriminated against him.

"I'm not the story,'' Topping told The Detroit News for a story yesterday. "The story is the affirmative action policy."

Barbara Larie, a secretary for social sciences at the university, said she had firsthand knowledge of the bonuses.

"The department that hired a minority or a woman would receive $2,000 in the supply or expense budget for that academic year," she said.

Larie said the school stopped paying departments the $2,000 bonuses and now reimburses the deans' recruiting budgets for expenses in recruiting minorities or women.

Another employee, Donald Roy, said in a sworn statement that John Thorp, head of the social sciences department, told him he received a $500 bonus for every minority or woman hired and that the "bounty" was concealed by including it in department heads' merit increases so that "no one could prove that the bounty policy exists."

Meg Hackett Carrier, assistant general counsel for the university, said the school has paid no such bonuses. Thorp denied the statements in his own sworn statements.

If Ferris State had the policy Topping describes, legal experts say it's not clear whether it would violate any court rulings on affirmative action.

While many private companies pay bonuses to managers who increase the diversity in their departments, it's more complex for public institutions, said James Fett, Topping's lawyer.

He said paying bounties might be acceptable if a school is trying to make up for past discrimination. But he contends that isn't the case with Ferris.

Carrier said the affirmative action policy that ties pay to recruiting efforts simply means that officials should advertise nationally and diversify the pool of candidates.

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