NBC4 reported on Angela Bryant’s resignation last spring. You can watch the coverage from April in the video player above.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — An Ohio State University professor has been rehired after she resigned during a mental health crisis last spring.
Associate Professor Angela Bryant is back on campus this fall after the university said Bryant announced her resignation to the head of the department in an email in March.
“Ohio State is pleased to confirm that it has re-hired Associate Professor of Sociology Angela Bryant,” the university said in a statement. “The university and Dr. Bryant held productive discussions to understand each other’s perspectives, and following those discussions concluded that re-employment was a satisfactory outcome for all. The university looks forward to welcoming Dr. Bryant back to Ohio State Newark this fall.”
Bryant’s case sought to answer whether a person experiencing a mental health crisis could be held responsible for their actions, as Bryant said she has no recollection of sending the resignation email.
“I honestly don’t have any memory actually of sending that email,” Bryant told NBC4 last spring. “If you read it, it reads to me not as a resignation but a cry for help.”
Following what she said was weeks of escalating emotional trauma, concern from co-workers and family members, and admission to a mental hospital on Ohio State’s campus, Bryant was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and stabilized.
Bryant said the university told her there was no going back, and her resignation was final — a move that Bryant called ironic after being treated for a medical crisis at the university’s hospital.
After presenting her case before the university’s Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility, the group found Bryant’s claims to be credible and recommended her reinstatement. In addition, three dozen colleagues signed a letter in support of her reinstatement.
At the time, the university released a statement that said it was committed to “supporting the health and well being of our faculty, staff and students.” The statement continues, “While the university takes individual privacy concerns seriously and cannot comment further on this specific case, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission has affirmed Ohio State’s handling of this sensitive employment matter.”
