Tomicich’s suit alleges that Lee orchestrated her firing because she had publicly supported his dismissal in April, the October 14 Pueblo Chieftain reported. She also claims that Lee “had a hit list of employees against whom he is retaliating and a reward list of persons to promote that supported his rehiring.”
Lee returned for several weeks as interim director before taking a permanent position as director of the Waukegan (Ill.) Public Library August 1.
Suspicions about Tomicich’s credentials arose in June after she told NBC affiliate KOAA-TV in Pueblo that her doctorate was from an “experimental online program from the University of Ohio.” The station reported June 17 that Ohio University denied granting her a degree, but confirmed that she holds a master’s degree in guidance and counseling from Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado. Tomicich’s lawyer and ex-husband Kirk Brown told the Chieftain that she possesses a doctorate from Experiential Universities, an alternative program that is now defunct.
Tomicich’s role in the Lee controversy first arose at a May 23 board meeting when she passed to a KOAA reporter hand-written derogatory notes about library employees, one of which accused Lee of being a Buddhist.
Posted October 20, 2003.