Contractual Issues and the Resignation/Termination of University of Illinois’ Chancellor Phyllis Wise

According to this Chicago Tribune report, the University of Illinois’ Chancellor, Phyllis Wise (pictured), and its Board of Trustees are fighting over whether she can resign or whether it is too late for her to resign because she has been terminated.  The exchange reminds me of a scene from the old Dick Van Dyke Show.  Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) has been helping out her husband, Rob (Dick van Dyke), by working as a typist, but Laura keeps making jokes that the other writers think are funny, which gets under Rob’s skin.  She storms out saying: 

The only reason I came here was to help you, and if I have annoyed you, I sincerely apologize, and to keep from causing you any further annoyance, I want you to know that I’m fired! 

To which Rob responds,  “You can’t fire! I quit ya!”

That fight was a product of marital discord, but the current dispute is about contracts and money.  Wise apparently tendered her resignation first, which would have triggered a $400,000 payment.  The Board rejected that resignation and has chose instead to initiate dismissal proceedings.  Wise has responded by tendering a second resignation.  Wise characterizes the $400,000 payment as a pro-rated portion of a retention bonus to which she was entitled under her 2011 contract.  But U of I’s President was also offering to keep Wise on in an administrative capacity, which seems like a nice way to justify the payment.  Wise claims entitlement to the payment even though she is now refusing the administrative post.  

Wise stands accused of having used personal e-mail accounts to conduct official business, allegedly in order to escape rules requiring disclosure of official correspondence.  Sound familiar?