Bachmeier wants $250K in damages

Randy Bachmeier, dean of extended studies at Montana State University-Northern, is asking for $250,000 in damages because he says his life was made a "living hell" because of sexual harassment by then-Provost Rosalyn Templeton.

But Northern’s attorney, Vivian Hammill, insists that Bachmeier was not harassed, that he suffered no adverse employment action, that he is at fault for not utilizing the internal procedure at the university that deals with sexual harassment in the workplace and that MSU-Northern did not take any actions that were retaliatory against Bachmeier.

That’s what was contained in legal papers filed with the Montana Human Relations Commission Sept. 17.

Sandra Page of the Human Relations Commission said that hearing officer Terry Spear, who heard testimony in the case, does not have a deadline to make a decision, but that it may be around a month before he does so.

Bachmeier's attorneys state that he provided sufficient proof that he was sexual harassed by Templeton, who allegedly touched him in an inappropriate manner over the course of three years, including stroking the hair on his forearm, running her fingers up and down his spine, placing her hand on his knee and massaging him.

Vivian Hammill, an attorney for MSU-Northern, requested in her proposal for decision that the Human Relations Commission find that Bachmeier was not sexually harassed or discriminated against based on his gender.

As a result of her alleged actions, Bachmeier states that he suffered from "lost appetite, insomnia, nightmares, panic attacks, heart palpitations and stomachaches," his attorney's proposal reads. At work, he felt distracted and was in constant fear.

"Her touch was unwelcome, and the environment it created was both subjectively and objectively unreasonable," Bachmeier's attorneys' proposal reads. "The harassment altered the conditions of Dr. Bachmeier's employment, and he suffered economic and emotional distress as a result."

The economic damages are Bachmeier's allegation that he will not be able to be promoted at the university after the problems that have arisen between him, Templeton and then-Chancellor James Limbaugh.

When Templeton left her position at the university, Bachmeier applied for the position of interim provost and believes his application was rejected because Limbaugh thought it "wouldn't look good" to hire Bachmeier for the position after he filed the complaint.