Allegations of misconduct behind the resignation and retirement of two former NIU employees came to light in the Chicago Tribune Wednesday.

Former Convocation Center Director John Gordon and Robert Albanese, former associate vice president of Finances and Facilities, chose to resign after they were told of the allegations of misconduct against them, according to the Chicago Tribune. Allegedly, Gordon had a university employee clean his home and Albanese used university property for personal use.

“I can confirm that there were allegations against each of them,” said Paul Palian, director of media and public relations.

Palian said a judiciary process, which would have provided all the parties the opportunity to make their case, was not completed. As such, if the allegations were true has not been determined, he said. Both Albanese and Gordon made a personal decision to leave the university.

“I can say that allegations were brought forth that led them to those personal decisions to leave the university, either resigning or retiring,” Palian said.

According to the Chicago Tribune article, a custodian said Gordon had her go to his home four or five times in the past year to clean it. The custodian told the Chicago Tribune she cleaned Gordon’s house two hours each time and was too scared to report it because she didn’t want to get fired. She eventually filed a grievance in May in regard to the allegations.

The allegations against Albanese included using university property, like printer ink cartridges, for himself and his family, according to the Chicago Tribune. Other allegations included him keeping university property at his home for personal use, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Palian said he knew any pursuance of an administrative investigation regarding the allegations was stopped with the resignation and retirement agreements. However, that does not preclude other organizations from doing any investigation on any other allegations and does not preclude the university from investigating other allegations that may have taken place, he said.

The Chicago Tribune reported university officials learned of the allegations in late May and hired John Countryman and his firm, Foster & Buick, to investigate. The university expects to pay the firm $15,000 for the investigation, according to the Tribune.

“From what I know, his office was hired to do an independent third-party investigation into allegations regarding Mr. Gordon and Mr. Albanese,” Palian said.

Before resigning, Gordon’s annual salary was $132,973. He received about $33,000 and six months of health insurance as part of his resignation agreement. Albanese’s salary was $198,553 and he was given a payout of $45,000 as part of his agreement.

Kathryn Buettner, vice president of university relations, said negotiating a payment with the employees as part of the resignation agreement gave a “quicker and likely less costly resolution” than putting them on paid leave pending further investigation and administrative hearings, according to the Tribune.