Cal State gives $340K job to ex-president who stepped down after discrimination lawsuit
Cal State quietly hands its ousted San Bernardino president a $344,000 consulting gig months after a discrimination lawsuit forced him out.
Tomás Morales stepped down as president of Cal State San Bernardino after being sued for discrimination and harassment. The system’s response? Create a one-year consulting role paying him $343,920 to advise on international education programs.
The arrangement, announced by the Cal State chancellor, comes on top of a $12 million settlement that resolved the lawsuit against Morales. Taxpayers are now funding both the payout for alleged misconduct and a generous exit package that keeps him on the payroll.
This isn’t accountability. It’s the California State University system’s familiar habit of insulating its own from consequences while students and faculty foot the bill. A president accused of discrimination leaves with nearly $344,000 for part-time consulting work that conveniently starts right after his departure.
Buried in the announcement is the timeline: Morales is gone following the suit, yet the chancellor moved swiftly to secure him this high-paid advisory position. The settlement closed the legal case, but the new contract reopens the question of whether anyone in the system actually faces repercussions for serious allegations.
California higher education already struggles with public trust and ballooning costs. Handing a six-figure consulting deal to an ex-president who left under a discrimination cloud only deepens the cynicism. The system that preaches equity and transparency just demonstrated how those principles bend for insiders.
What remains is a straightforward contradiction: if the allegations were serious enough to require a $12 million settlement and presidential resignation, why is the same system now paying Morales almost $344,000 more to stay involved?
Original reporting: CalMatters.
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