Michael Laliberte speaks at the University of Maine at Augusta in April. Laliberte, who was hired as UMA president and later withdrew from his contract after details of his previous employment surfaced, will receive $235,000 from UMaine this year and could continue to receive payouts over the next three years. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file
University of Maine at Augusta presidential candidate Michael Laliberte will receive an additional $30,000 payout for a housing allowance on top of the $205,000 salary he’s due to receive in a lump sum on July 1, according to a finalized settlement released Friday by the university system.
Laliberte, who agreed to withdraw from his contract as the new UMA president following disclosures of past no-confidence votes in his leadership, is set to receive $235,000 in one lump sum on July 1 under the settlement, which he signed on Friday.
Laliberte is ensured to be making a minimum of $235,000 annually for the next two years as well, with UMaine agreeing to also pay the difference if a new job pays him less than that.
Both the $30,000 housing allowance and the payouts making up any deficit with a new job’s salary are both new aspects of the deal not previously disclosed by university officials, following the announcement Sunday that Laliberte would withdraw from the UMA president position.
The settlement lays out detailed provisions for any further payouts to Laliberte — which could be as high as $235,000 for each of the next two years — for the remainder of the three-year period, had he been employed by the University of Maine System. The settlement, which seeks to shield the UMaine system from any lawsuits or claims, mandates that Laliberte “must make good faith earnest efforts to seek gainful employment commensurate with his skills and abilities as soon as reasonably possible” in order to qualify for additional payouts after this year.
The document suggests such qualified positions could also include roles as a provost, dean, vice president of student affairs or business/education consultant. Laliberte, meanwhile, must “provide written evidence of his concrete efforts to find gainful employment” every other month, starting in January 2023.
Laliberte becomes eligible for additional monthly payments, prorated based on the $235,000 salary, if he’s still unemployed on July 1, 2023.
But if Laliberte does find a new job, he’ll still be entitled to UMaine payouts. If his new job pays less than $235,000 annually, the university system will pay him the difference between his new salary and $235,000 for the next two years.
If, however, Laliberte finds a job that pays $235,000 or more a year, the university’s obligation to pay Laliberte “shall cease entirely,” according to the deal.
Laliberte won’t be eligible for payouts over the next two years if he fails to provide UMaine with required documentation as well, including evidence of his employment searches.
Laliberte was to begin at UMA, which is the third-largest public university in Maine, on Aug. 1. UMaine System officials announced Laliberte had withdrawn as president of UMA after it was revealed he was the subject of two votes of no confidence less than a year ago at the State University of New York at Delhi, where he was president. That information about those no-confidence votes was not shared with the full UMA Presidential Search Committee, though it was known and not considered credible by UMaine Chancellor Dannel Malloy. As a result, the disclosures have also sparked no-confidence votes by faculty across the university system in Malloy as chancellor and in the search process that led to Laliberte’s hiring.
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