A copy of that complaint and contemporaneous internal communications obtained by The State News shed light on the allegations being investigated by the university's Office of Audit, Risk and Compliance.

Emails show Brogdon instructed a junior staffer to improperly pull specific employee files, delete evidence she had done so, and keep her direct superior in the dark about that work.

The complaint alleges that Brogdon assigned the task at the behest of then-Board of Trustees Chair Rema Vassar and the university's presidential search committee, which was just underway.

The previously unreported investigation could add some context to Brogdon’s abrupt departure earlier this week. The university has declined to say whether her exit was a resignation or a termination.

In an interview with The State News Thursday, President Kevin Guskiewicz declined to clarify the move, saying "it's a personnel matter, one that (executive vice president for administration Vennie Gore) and his team have worked through, and I'm gonna leave it at that."

Brogdon was appointed in 2022 following a national search as the university's first vice president for human resources and chief human resources officer.

That hiring was touted at the time by then-President Samuel Stanley who said in a release that Brogdon’s "expertise is an asset to the institution as we work to address the challenges that lie ahead to recruit and retain top-notch professionals."

Brogdon could not be reached for comment.

An 'urgent records request'

Brogdon enlisted a junior staffer — Unit Services Assistant Courtney Hanneman — to carry out the covert task in April 2023.

The two had become friendly in the months before, according to the complaint, which says they "enjoyed gossiping."

"(Brogdon) is like me," the complaint alleges Hanneman once said. "We love having dirt on people."

Hanneman was scheduled to finish working at 4:30 p.m. the day of the file seizure, according to the complaint. Another employee was surprised when she was still online around 5 p.m., using a shared secure drive to save files of senior administrators and academic staff.

The employee checked a spreadsheet used to keep track of incoming requests for personnel information, and found that no one was listed as seeking the files Hanneman was pulling.

Hanneman explained that Brogdon had told her to "remain in the office after 5pm when most people had left for the day and to start compiling specific files," according to the complaint.

The unorthodox request is documented in emails from that day, according to copies obtained by The State News, which were released in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

Brogdon "did not want a lot of eyes on this request," Hanneman wrote in one email. She said "it was confidential" in another, responding to concerns from another staffer.

In another email a few days later, Hanneman explained the request more fully, saying Brogdon told her to "look through the files and if anything derogatory or disciplinary was in there to make her aware."

Brogdon also apparently instructed Hanneman to make sure her activities couldn't be revealed in requests under Michigan's public records laws.

"She did not want anything FOIAable, which is why I had deleted the items as she told me after I had compiled some," Hanneman wrote in an email. "She did not want a lot of people on the request as it was a high request."

Brogdon requested that Hanneman be compensated for the after-hours project.

"I received an urgent records request and asked (Hanneman) to work this evening," Brogdon wrote in an email. "I will authorize her overtime pay/hours to fulfill the request."

Reached by The State News via email, Hanneman initially requested to review the complaint, and later said "I have read this document, and my only statement is that everything characterized about me is false or out of context."

"This is one person's perspective, and it is unjust of them to spread such misinformation of another person especially with the line of work I do which I (sic) why I am making a statement."

Trustee accused of prompting request

The complaint suggests Brogdon made the request on behalf of Vassar, then the chair of MSU's board.

Hanneman told another employee that information "was for Rema (Vassar) and the search committee," according to the complaint.

At the time, the board was working to assemble a committee tasked with filling the university’s vacant presidency. Vassar had appointed Dennis Denno, another trustee, to chair it.

Vassar and Denno have both since been censured by the board after an outside investigation found that they repeatedly inappropriately interfered in the university's administration, sometimes for personal gain.

This new allegation of improper interference could further swirl that scandal, which was said to be simmering down. Michigan's governor has spent more than a year considering a referral from the board to consider removing Vassar and Denno from office, while MSU's leaders have suggested in recent months that the issues have largely dissipated on their own.

Reached for comment, Vassar said she did not tell Brogdon to seek the employee information and has not been contacted by MSU's investigators. She did suggest someone else may know more, saying "notice the report says, 'Rema and the search committee.'"

"Maybe the committee knows what is referenced here," Vassar said.

Denno sent a statement to The State News saying "As Chair of the Presidential Search Committee I do not recall requesting any documents from Christina Brogdon or her team."

The complaint raises a concern that Brogdon could have made other similar demands, saying that Hanneman referred to herself as "(Brogdon’s) mole" in the months after the covert record pulling. It also says Brogdon discussed changing Hanneman’s responsibilities to allow access to more types of university records.

Other allegations in the complaint include: Brogdon influencing hiring decisions in favor of personal acquaintances; speaking inappropriately in the workplace of "her dating apps and profiles;" leaving people out of "recognition communications and celebrations for interim duty performance" based on "race and retaliation;" and, making comments about staffers "needing a babysitter," saying "people need to choose between motherhood and working."

The complaint also claims that, at a meeting, Brogdon "advised she was 'married to MSU,' and made a remark about intimacy that made many uncomfortable," the complaint said.

Senior Reporter Theo Scheer and Administration Reporter Emilio Perez Ibarguen contributed reporting.