Note: I have also posted this discussion to http://auditcommitteeupdate.com

Click on the link below for the Chronicle’s story, stating that a new investigation report concludes that UC interfered with the state internal auditor’s audit of UC, including changing survey answers or results. I have previously blogged about the state auditor’s audit of UC, and, frankly, as an ex-auditor and after having been involved in litigation as an attorney for many, many years, I was and still am complimentary that the state auditor held her ground and called thing as she believed them to be – that can be a tough situation to be in, and I would be interested to hear whether the state auditor herself felt any pressure from any sources.

Let me also add that I have heard stories for years about internal auditors and compliance professionals, and also, sometimes, external auditors, who have felt pressure to conduct their activities, or to report findings, in a manner that was contrary to how they thought a particular matter should be handled or reported.

It is my understanding that the investigation report will be coming out, perhaps today. I haven’t seen the actual investigation report – I always like to see the actual source information or document – too much “news” today is skewed with intentional or unintentional bias, or is incorrectly reported, or is reported in a summary manner that causes the “news” to not be correct or to be misleading, or is reported with an objective in mind, or uses adjectives instead of facts and evidence, or is anonymous or from anonymous sources, or is really more opinion than facts and evidence (“opinion-jour”), etc. And there are always two sides to a story, and sometimes three, four, or more sides. There was a saying several years ago, trust but verify. I believe the options are: (1) trust and don’t verify, (2) trust but verify, (3) question but verify, or be skeptical but verify, and (4) don’t trust but verify, or distrust and verify. I’m at least at (3), and often at (4). Below is the link to the Chronicle article:

http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Report-says-UC-president-s-office-improperly-12358268.php

That’s all for now. Of course, each situation is different.

David Tate, Esq., Royse Law Firm, Menlo Park, California office, with offices in northern and southern California. http://rroyselaw.com

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