Eric Ferreri reports:
A prominent cancer researcher at UNC-Chapel Hill spent at least $350,000 fighting for her job.
It wasn’t enough.
Bonnie Yankaskas, an epidemiologist in the medical school, retires at the end of 2011, as stipulated in a settlement that restores her rank and full salary.
UNC-CH officials wanted to fire Yankaskas, whom they blamed for a security breach that endangered personal information of 180,000 women whose mammogram data had been part of a university research project.
The university subsequently scaled that punishment back to a demotion and pay cut, which Yankaskas appealed, leading to mediation and the eventual settlement.
Read more in the News & Observer. Previous coverage of the breach, which was reported in 2009, can be found on this blog and on phiprivacy.net.