Whitcomb To Keep His $136,000 Pay -- Medical Dean Quits Post, But He's Not Out At UW

Dr. Michael Whitcomb, who resigned yesterday as dean of the University of Washington medical school after being cleared of a sexual-harassment complaint, will continue working at the UW at his present salary of about $136,000 a year.

UW President William Gerberding said that is in the salary range of a tenured full professor in the medical school, Whitcomb's rank.

A UW official said medical school full professors average about $100,000 a year. Those in the school's Department of Medicine, where Whitcomb will teach, write and treat patients, make slightly higher salaries, she said.

Whitcomb, dean since January 1988, resigned yesterday after the UW equal-employment office cleared him of a sexual-harassment complaint by a university employee.

The complaint stemmed from an incident last Sept. 15 in which Katie Kocis, then an employee of the School of Medicine, filed a sexual-assault complaint with Seattle police. The police and the King County prosecutor's office did not charge Whitcomb, saying the complaint was unfounded.

Whitcomb said rumors and innuendos surrounding the complaint have made him ineffective as dean.

UW officials say they will move quickly to find a new medical-school dean. Gerberding said he will appoint a search committee for a new medical dean immediately and look first inside the medical school for Whitcomb's replacement. Failing that, he said, the search will go outside the school, with the hope that a selection can be made by January 1991.

Dr. Bruce Gilliland, an associate medical-school dean, has been appointed acting dean.

Several medical-school officials have said finding a new, permanent dean will be difficult because the past two deans have left under unfavorable conditions. Dr. David Dale was fired in July 1986, and Gerberding has never publicly revealed the reason.

Whitcomb, 48, initially said yesterday that his resignation would be effective May 31, but after talking later with Gerberding he made it effective immediately.

``In the light he had resigned and it was undermining his capacity to lead, there was no point in prolonging it,'' said Gerberding. But he said that originally he did not urge Whitcomb to resign.

Gerberding said he and many medical-school officials were impressed by Whitcomb's leadership and vision for the school during his two years in office.

``For personal and institutional reasons,'' Gerberding said, ``it has been terribly sad to see this bright promise fade. But we'll get through it. The institution is strong.''

An investigative report by the UW Equal Employment and Affirmative Action Office released yesterday said Whitcomb and Kocis, 37, a former program assistant in the medical-school alumni office, got ``very drunk'' after a medical-school social event Sept. 14 at the Space Needle.

The two drank at two Pioneer Square-area bars, then left in Whitcomb's car for a location ``which neither can remember,'' the report said. On the way, two of Whitcomb's car tires blew out when they hit railroad tracks near the Kingdome.

On the ground near the railroad tracks, Whitcomb and Kocis then engaged in ``sexual activity of some sort,'' which was interrupted by police, the report said.

Later, after Whitcomb's car was impounded and Kocis was driving him home, they stopped at a Mercer Island park and engaged in ``some sort of sexual activity which she does not fully remember and he refuses to discuss,'' the report said.

``It is clear that both parties engaged in irresponsible and questionable behavior which has had a devastating effect upon them, their families and their careers,'' Helen Remick, UW equal-employment-opportunity officer, concluded in the report.

``However, the facts do not support the conclusion that illegal sexual harassment took place. I am therefore closing this case with a finding of `no cause.' ''

Remick said a second complaint of unprofessional conduct filed by Kocis was not in her jurisdiction. But Gerberding said that complaint was made moot by Whitcomb's resignation.

Whitcomb relinquished his duties as dean for a week last September when police were investigating the criminal complaint. UW officials refused at the time to say why he had stepped down.

Whitcomb said in an interview he has no excuse for his actions the night of Sept. 14-15.

He said he has had a drinking problem for several years but since the September incident has received counseling and stopped drinking.

Kocis' attorney, Jeffery Robinson, said she would have no comment on the report.

Remick said she found no evidence to support Kocis' claim that Whitcomb intentionally got her drunk to have sex. A health-care provider who treated Kocis said Kocis said the sexual activity with Whitcomb ``was something she allowed to happen and was not rape,'' the investigative report said.

Neither did Remick find evidence to support Whitcomb's claim that Kocis had intentionally manipulated him to get a promotion or ruin his reputation.

``Rather,'' Remick said, ``it appears that under the influence of alcohol, both parties engaged in behaviors which they later strongly regretted and which they tried to rationalize as the fault of the other.''

Remick said in her report that during the investigation she asked Kocis' attorney what Kocis expected as an outcome to the case. Her office routinely attempts to negotiate a settlement of complaints.

She said Robinson, Kocis' attorney, said they would like mandatory alcohol-abuse and sexual-aggression counseling for the dean and a settlement of $25,000. In exchange, Kocis would not sue the dean or the UW, Remick quoted Robinson as saying.

Remick said Gerberding declined the offer and she continued her investigation.

-- Times staff reporter Richard Seven contributed to this report.