Feds investigating Concordia College’s Israel program
Federal authorities are investigating Concordia College in Bronxville for possible violations of the False Claims Act concerning an off-campus program in Israel.
James C. Burkee, a former history professor and executive vice president of the college, disclosed the investigation in a lawsuit filed June 26 in Westchester Supreme Court.
Burkee is suing Concordia for $203,000, for allegedly firing him last year without cause. But he also links his case to the Concordia Israel Option Program, in which students study for a year at seminaries in Israel.
“He has no reason to believe that anything he or Concordia did was unlawful,” the complaint states, but he is demanding that the college pay the legal expenses for responding to the federal investigation.
Concordia did not respond to an email message requesting comment.
The Bronxville college is part of the eight campus Concordia University System operated by the Lutheran Church ”“ Missouri Synod.
Burkee graduated from Concordia University Wisconsin in 1990 and received master”™s and doctorate degree in history from Northwestern University.
Concordia hired him as a history instructor in 2000. He was named the dean of Program Development and International Education in 2013. He became a full professor in 2015 and was promoted to executive vice president in 2016.
On Nov. 27, about six weeks after he was fired, Burkee received a Civil Investigative Demand from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. The feds want all documents and communications concerning Sara Schenirer Seminary ”“ the college”™s partner in the Israel program ”“ and its dean, Rabbi Elazar Meisels, from January 2017 to November 2019.
Students who are residents of New York are eligible to earn up to 30 college credits during a year of seminary study in Israel. The program administers the financial aid process, including Pell grants, direct loans and tax breaks under the American Opportunity Tax Credit program.
Concordia also received a demand for documents, according to the complaint.
The feds cited “alleged violations of the False Claims Act by Concordia College, Sara Schenirer Seminary and their employees ”¦ in connection with the Concordia Israel Option Program.”
The False Claims Act is a Civil War era law that combats waste, fraud and abuse in federal spending. The law includes financial incentives for insiders, or whistleblowers, who disclose frauds against the government.
Burkee “had personal knowledge and information concerning the matters asked about,” his complaint states, “because one of his functions at Concordia placed him in charge of off-campus partnerships.”
Potentially, his complaint states, he has thousands of electronic documents that investigators want.
Burkee hired a lawyer to help him identify responsive documents, the complaint states, and he asked Concordia to “advance his legal fees and costs.” Concordia refused.
His attorney, Robert B. Bernstein of Scarsdale, argues that the court may order the college to pay litigation expenses for a legal action that arises from actions of a former officer who acted in good faith.
Burkee was fired Oct. 30. Under college policy, he claims, a full professor must be given 12 months advance notice, with full salary and benefits for the year, and severance up to six months. He is demanding one-year salary of $143,000 and $60,000 severance.
By his account, all was well as recently as of late September when he met with college president John Nunes to discuss leaving Concordia at the end of the academic year, June 30, 2020, to seek the presidency of a comparable institution.
Nunes agreed to support Burkee”™s plan, according to the complaint, and Burkee agreed to help identify and train his successor at Concordia.
But last October, Burkee alleges, he was asked to resign voluntarily. His job would end immediately, he would be paid through the end of the year and he would have to sign a one-year noncompete agreement blocking him from working, the complaint states, “for any other institution of higher learning anywhere in the world.”
Burkee did not sign the document, he was fired and he received his final paycheck.